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The author of the above letter is a retired employee of Greater Vernon Water (GVW) one of the major proponent of using Duteau Creek as a domestic water source. Here are a few items to counter his claims:
The VID system was built for irrigation and it was very efficient for that purpose. It did not need any changes!
The only change needed to be done was the construction of a dedicated domestic main connecting current Duteau domestic customers to Kalamalka Lake water. That would have provided total separation of the water systems.
As it is, there is virtually no separation: the same water is used for irrigation and domestic consumption as before except this water is a lot more expensive. WE DID NOT SOLVE THE SEPARATION PROBLEM! A farmer gets his irrigation water from the same pipe as he does his domestic water except for a huge cost differential. All the money spent and planned to be spent at Duteau could have been used for the separation.
Okanagan Lake was not needed for at least 40 years. However, infrastructure costs were estimated to be $35 million. It is noteworthy that GVW was planning to apply for a 50,000 ML water license for Okanagan Lake. How does that go along with the writers arguments?
A filtration plant is planned for the Mission Hill Water Treatment Plant (a grant has already been applied for). That would take care of seasonal variations in water quality.
Surprisingly however, the cost conscientious letter writer promoted the construction of a $2.6 million pipeline from Okanagan Lake to pump water to Goose Lake for irrigation purposes paid for by domestic customers and operated at the cost of domestic customers at an estimated annual cost of $160,000.
Credibility?
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