**Coldstreamernews**

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Morning Star Newsclips - In case you missed them.

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Monday, May 11, 2015

Canadian Drought Monitor - April 31, 2015

For your information!

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Drought-stricken Californians turfing their turf for cash - will it be better or worse?

"Francisco Sevillano and his four-man crew grab their hoes, machetes and pickaxes and start hacking. Soon, instead of water-guzzling grass, her front and back yards will sprout drought-tolerant plants. And she's hardly the first on her block. In some areas it looks like a bizarre election: Everywhere there are lawn signs bearing slogans like "I'm conserving water. Won't you join me?" In many neighbourhoods like Meloni's, brown is the new green."

"Some lawn replacements may actually create 'heat island'"

Sunday, May 10, 2015

How much money do you save by conserving water?

Greater Vernon Water Utility customers are strongly encouraged to conserve water. Most customers comply and believe that by saving water they also save significant amounts of money. They are mistaken. Up to 40 m3 consumption 1 m3 of water only cost customers $1.00 or less per m3.

To demonstrate the actual cost savings let’s compare the bill of customer “a” consuming 10 m3 of water per quarter to that of customer “b” consuming 40 m3.

For 10 m3 the bill would be $106.90 while for 40 m3 it would be $142.09 for a difference of $35.19. For this price difference of 33% customer “a” could use 4 times more water just like customer “b”.

Customers on sewer should be careful in the first quarter of the year where sewer fees are determined based on the first quarter water consumption.

The alternate rate proposal I put forward would distribute rates more fairly. Visit the comparison of the two systems prepared by Councillor Spiers.

Customers conserving water should be treated fairly for their honest efforts of reducing water usage! My proposed rate system would reflect this principle. With this system customer "a" using 10 m3 of water per quarter would have a bill of $55.60. Customer "b" would be billed for 40 m3 water at $133.19. That is an incentive for conserving water and a reward for doing so. Everyone is treated fairly to boot!

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