The Master Water Plan's $70 million borrowing referendum was soundly defeated by the electorate in November. Everyone had their own reason for voting against the borrowing. In the followings I reflect on some of the reasons I voted against the borrowing.
The VID system was perfectly capable of supplying all its irrigation customers with low cost agricultural quality water. It needed no alteration to satisfy irrigation needs.
A mistake was made when domestic water supply was connected to the irrigation system from the late 1960's on to date. It should have been obvious that domestic customers could only receive raw irrigation water through this system.
The remedy should be to have the domestic water customers separated from the irrigation (Duteau) system. This was clearly stated in MWP 2002. In my opinion all domestic supply should be provided from the Mission Hill (Kalamalka Lake) treatment plant by extending that supply to the current Duteau Creek customers. When that license is exhausted Okanagan Lake should be utilized for additional domestic supply.
Instead, we have spent about $45 million (68% of total expenditure) on altering the perfectly functioning irrigation system. Even after this huge expenditure the majority of the mixed system remains. We actually created an additional domestic water supply that provides high cost domestic water to both domestic and agriculture customers. As a result our water rates increased over threefold since 2002. We did not resolve the problem that we intended to resolve, we just made it more expensive.
The 2012 MWP proposes to spend an additional $58.3 million on the irrigation system alterations. That would make the expenditure on the Duteau system a grand total of $103.3 million by 2022. It is a huge expenditure just to provide domestic water from Duteau Creek to the 20% of domestic customers. This is compounding the original mistake! Those funds should be spent on the total separation of the two systems. The Duteau irrigation system should be left for the use of agriculture. Domestic water should be provided from Kalamalka Lake to all domestic customers.
The above expenditures are only for the initial infrastructure financing. In addition there are the annual treatment costs at Duteau Creek between $2-3 million. Duteau water is the most expensive to treat and most of the treated water is used for irrigation.
There is also the maintenance and infrastructure replacement costs of the Duteau domestic water system and the new raw water system. Those are all costs for payment by the domestic customers.
Another problem is the competition for water in low snow pack years between irrigation and domestic customers. The Aberdeen source is totally dependent on annual snow and rain fall. There were drought years when Grizzly Lake almost totally dried up. If no domestic water is required from the Duteau system irrigation customers can allocate the available irrigation water based only on crop demands.
In the mean time there are unused water licenses on BX Creek that could be utilized if we turned our attention to the Kalamalka/Okanagan Lake alternative. One of the recommendations contained in MWP 2012 is to reserve 50,000 megaliters (50 million cubic meters) of water licenses on Okanagan Lake. This request indicates that the final plan is to utilize Okanagan Lake as the main water source (like Kelowna does). If that happens all of the investments in the Duteau system will become redundant.
The taxpayers expressed their opinion on the current MWP. We must develop a new paradigm for our future water plan. The new direction must come from the taxpayers through their elected representatives. Consultants and staff must follow that direction instead of the other way around.
Taxpayers must also be involved in developing the new plans. We cannot develop something in isolation and hand over another inferior plan and ask taxpayers to rubber stamp it. My new years resolution is to continue to inform the electorate on the progress of the new plans.
Watch for further reports on this blog and pass it on to your friends and neighbours. We need to do this together!
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Don Quixote Note: It has already been demonstrated that the existing Mission Hill Plant can supply all the domestic water required. (This was shown when Duteau was taken offline several times in last year) The converse was true when Mission Hill was taken offline and Duteau provided the water. (This is the argument for an expensive redundant system.). Before we do anything else we must cost out the price of supplying all domestic customers from Mission Hill (Kal Lake water). To offset these costs we must remember that we could eliminate the filtration requirement at Duteau (est. $26.5 million) and In addition there are the annual treatment costs at Duteau Creek between $2-3 million.
If this change is feasible it must be considered and changes to that effect can be put in the Master Water Plan. Furthermore the necessity of Filtrating Kal Lake Water ($35 million in 2022) must be deferred until levels of background contaminates exceeds the acceptable guidelines and the Prov., Feds and local ratepayers are committed to a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 sharing of the cost. (This must be put in the Master Water plan as an amendment.)
Mr. Kiss called for a Peer Review of this plan before it went to referendum and it is time that we reevaluate this plan. Remember the current plan will require the $70 million dollars for this first phase and a further $41 Million in 2022 for the second phase. The present water rates pricing formula will show a 30% increase to both the base fee of $99.80/ quarter and your consumption rates. The $41 million will require an est. 17.5% increase in 2022.
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