Okanagan Lake pump station for agricultural water MWP 2012?

This was one of the more controversial proposals by the Consultants during the preparation of the Master Water Plan (MWP). This was presented in the eleventh hour of the discussions. According to the theory it would be cheaper to fill Goose Lake with Okanagan Lake water than using the current method of filling it with Duteau Creek water.

Goose Lake supplies water to about 11% of the total agricultural land of  Greater Vernon (about 400 hectares). We could assume that it will also provide about 11% of the total irrigation water which would amount to less than 1,000 ML/y.

Building the pump station for $2.6 million (cost for 20 years is about $182,000 annually with the additional estimated $100,000-160,000 annual pumping costs) would make the project more expensive than using Duteau Creek. It seems ludicrous to spend $2.6 million for a pump station plus $160,000 pumping costs annually to irrigate 400 hectares of agricultural land when the existing system can provide the needed water.

However, the irony is that they are worried about an insignificant cost difference instead of considering the fact that the irrigation water should not be treated at all. If we used the Duteau system for irrigation only with untreated water this expense would disappear (about $6.5 million over 20 years).

They should worry instead about the huge waste in having constructed a giant treatment plant (162 ML/day capacity) of which only 110 ML/d would be needed for the current proposal (at least $10-12 million waste of taxpayers money). Expenditures of water projects should only be used for the domestic water system.

Agriculture should be able to look after their own costs and domestic customers should only cover domestic water costs. Almost all of the proposed $70 million expenditure is planned for agricultural modifications instead of total separation of the systems. It will destabilize the agriculture system and make the whole project very complicated.

How simple would it be to have the old VID system continue supplying untreated irrigation water and the redesigned and expanded domestic system from Kalamalka (or Okanagan) Lake provide the same or even better quality water than the current huge plant is producing  mostly for irrigation use at a great expense? Of course, that system would be too simple and everyone could visualize the plans.

There is a need for a new paradigm and not just having staff appointed consultants dictate what direction the plan should go. Trust is important and having spent nearly 14 years on planning the trust, at least for me, is evaporated. We need an independent review!

 

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