I
believe the resounding defeat of the master water plan referendum shows that
you cannot fool all the people all the time and underscores the need for
politicans to take off their rose coloured glasses.
The
provision of an adequate amount of safe drinking water is absolutely essential
and elected officials need to hold those senior members of the water utility
who have just been showing part of the overall water picture to the public to
account.
It
is ridiculous how much emphasis has been put on getting drinking water from
Duteau Creek whilst largely ignoring the fact that the vast majority of people
in Coldstream and Vernon get their water from the Mission Hill waterworks that
draws its water from Kal Lake. Doing so distorts the water reality.
I
suspect a lot of people currently getting their drinking water from Duteau
Creek could be switched at reasonable expense to the Mission Creek water that
comes from Kal Lake.
Problem
is, from the perspective of those with vested interests, that would really show
what a white elephant Duteau Creek is as a source of drinking water.
Intially,
we were told that we needed to spend millions on the Duteau Creek waterworks
because the province would not give us enough water rights to take water from
Kal or Okanagan Lakes to meet our needs. That drum is no longer being beaten
with much enthusiam perhaps because it’s credibility has been undermined by the
fact that other communities bordering the lakes have water licences permitting
them to draw what they need from the lakes. It’s hard to believe that the
province would deny Vernon what it has granted to Kelowna, that is unless we
fail to make a good case that we need the water licences. The horrendous cost
of turning Duteau Creek water into something drinkable makes a darn good case,
does it not?
Another
thing the senior people at the water utility have told us is that Interior
Health has ordered us to filter our drinking water. Quite frankly, that’s
pretty hard to swallow. I think it far more likely that Interior Health has
said that our drinking water needs to meet certain standards and left it up to
our water gurus to figger out how to meet those standards.
I’m
thinking too that Interior Health has few if any concerns about the bulk of our
drinking water that comes from Kal Lake. Duteau Creek water is another matter
entirely. Despite the millions of taxpayer dollars poured into making it
drinkable, Duteau Creek water, especially at the time of spring runoff, has too
many suspended particules that diminsh the efficacy of chlorination or ultra
violet treatments. The fact that a lot of cattle poop in the creek and a lot of
runoff from nearby fields contaminate it as it meanders through agricultural
lands on it’s way to the multi million dollar waterworks does not reduce the
cost of purification to drinking water standards either.
I’m
no expert but I am a firm believer that you do not have to be a chef in order
to criticize the cooking. What amazes me is that our elected officials ever
approved spending so much to make water from a nonsuitable source drinkable in
the first place.
Now,
our elected officials need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a
more economical plan. They also need to do so with their eyes wide open. It is
common knowledge that fudging terms of reference can hamstring outside experts
into being unable to recommend what they otherwise would do if not so fettered.
Over
to you, our newly elected officials. We need you to sort this out for us. An
adequate source of drinking water is a fundamental need, having it done at
affordable cost is a fundamental need too. Kindly roll up your sleeves and get
on with the job. Give the raspberry to any so-called experts who expound taking
water from a source that is so initially unsuitable for making it drinkable
that it will never be affordable.
It
upsets me that letter such as this needed to be written. For goodness sake you
elected officials, do you not realize that your constituents rely on you to
determine how many beans make five on the provision of a need so fundamental as
enough safe drinking water. Shame on your predeccessors, shame too on those of
you who held elected office whilst some of the prolifigate water decisions were
made over the past several administrations.
I
am one irate citizen who feels badly let down.
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