Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: March 23, 2010 7:00 PM
A Vernon politician believes farmers have been hung out to dry over water rates. Coun. Buffy Baumbrough is questioning the North Okanagan Regional District increasing agricultural water fees by nine per cent for 2010. “The principles of the master water plan are that agricultural users would not have to pay for improvements to systems that only benefit domestic customers,” she said. The primary reason for the higher rate structure is to pay for the new Duteau Creek treatment plant debt and operation of the facility. Greater Vernon agriculture users have stated the plan only benefits homes through improved water quality, and will do nothing for their specific needs of quantity and water pressure. “We’re not following the master water plan and the principles that were laid out,” said Baumbrough. The average flat rate for an agricultural customer is $212 per hectare a year. The nine per cent increase will raise that by $19 per hectare annually.
Mayor Wayne Lippert, who is a NORD director, says the nine per cent hike for all utility customers is required because the budget was scaled back in 2006 and not enough revenue came in for infrastructure. But Lippert insists the regional district board takes the agricultural sector’s concerns seriously. “The direction to staff was to find out what the true agricultural costs are and including the maintenance of the lines,” he said. “The agricultural rate they’ve been paying has been staying on track. This year with the nine per cent, they will be slightly over the scale. We need to support agriculture but the increase will be affecting residential customers far more.” Baumbrough believes commitments to farmers must be maintained. “I hope whatever the outcome of the number-crunching (by staff), we stick with the principles in the plan,” she said.
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If one reads all working papers (#1-16) of the Master Water Plan, one discovers multiple references to the potential for future integration of the regional system with the City's own reclaimed water utility, which has long been promoted as a cheap source of irrigation water for agriculturalists/irrigationists in Greater Vernon.
Seeing as Councillor Baumbrough has stated that she wants to follow the Master Water Plan, and especially all the principles, and that she can't support rate increases for agriculturalists if improvements are only made for domestic users, what was her opinion on the irrigation water rate hikes for the City's own utility that were adopted at Monday's Council meeting?
The increase for agricultural irrigation was 16%, and 19.5% for agricultural/silvicultural trickle. Makes that 9% GVW increase seem reasonable.
It might even make one wonder whether piping straight GVW water to these customers wouldn't be more cost-effective?
Here is what Don Quixote says:
"Those rates were adopted by Council on monday .
These pertain to BYLAW NUMBER 4899 A bylaw to provide for the management and fixing of rates, terms and conditions under which irrigation water may be supplied from the irrigation water system of the City of Vernon
“Irrigation Water” means reclaimed water from the City of Vernon Water Reclamation Plant and/or from the City of Vernon MacKay Reservoir which has undergone a sufficient level of treatment to be suitable for use for irrigation purposes under the City of Vernon’s Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Operational Certificate and the Code of Practice for the Use of Reclaimed Water, A Companion Document to the Municipal Sewage Regulation, Issued May 2001, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Pollution Prevention and Remediation Branch."
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