I turned on the tap Monday night and crisp, clear water filled the glass right to the rim. Not that I ever had many complaints about what I was getting before, but bringing the Duteau Creek treatment plant on stream earlier in the day made a huge difference. That’s good considering the amount of money Greater Vernon utility customers have been paying over the years. Officials will argue that a pot of cash had to build up before construction of the $29 million facility could begin, but not seeing anything tangible except high water rates became frustrating for many. Unfortunately, though, the pain isn’t over yet.
North Okanagan Regional District staff and politicians are already bracing us for a projected $20 million to install filtration because the Interior Health Authority has demanded it be in place by 2015. “That cost is outrageous after what we just spent. All we’ve done is spend money, money, money on water,” said director Jack Gilroy after hearing staff’s report about the next stage to come. “I don’t know where we’re supposed to get $20 million. The taxpayer is tapped out.”
Obviously we all want assurances that our drinking water is safe, but it’s too easy for IHA and the provincial government to exert financial pressure on communities when they bring virtually no monetary assistance to the table. Yes, there was $16.6 million in federal and provincial grants for the Duteau Creek treatment plant, but that was peanuts compared to the burden carried by local water users. Also keep in mind that as taxpayers, we contributed towards those government funds so generously provided. If Greater Vernon’s ability to pay for a treatment plant and filtration is put to the test, how are smaller communities across the North Okanagan going to cope? Will utilities in Spallumcheen, Falkland, Lumby or Kingfisher be bankrupted when IHA comes knocking on the door with demands for enhanced systems? Will the price tag force some of them to ignore the work, praying no one gets sick from the water? Talk to many local politicians off the record and they speculate that the push for water improvements has little to do with public safety and more to do with senior government and health boards trying to protect their own backends. Ever since the water-related deaths in Walkerton, Ont. in 2000, reducing liability has become the name of the game. As a result, creeks and lakes that have supplied water to Okanagan families for 100 years all of a sudden are a breeding ground for an assortment of nasty bugs.
Victoria and Ottawa will cry poverty and say they don’t have the financial resources to take on aging water systems, but when you consider the billions of stimulus dollars that have gone to arenas, pools and bailing out entire segments of the economy, there is money out there. Instead of taking responsibility for their own water quality and health standards, senior government downloads on to municipalities, regional districts and irrigation districts who have no choice but to pass the bill on to customers. Turning on the tap to newly treated Duteau Creek water is still a treat, but thinking about what’s to come just leaves me feeling hosed.
2 comments:
Before the filtration plant is built, separation of the domestic and agricultural water must be done. Does the $20 million figure include the separation costs? This is an important question! The size and consequently the cost of the filtration plant will depend on separation.
Good point Coldstreamer!
Bring on the separation discussions around the Board table!
It would be wonderful to give the tax-paying, rate-paying public an opportunity to understand what options are available, and how these important decisions affect the cost of adding filtration as per IHA's requirements.
Unfortunately the MorningStar chose not to recognize system separation as the next most important step in realizing the promises made by the Master Water Plan, preferring instead to allow a reporter to express his personal opinion about "getting hosed".
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