Water Plan Direction In Question

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Thursday, 08 January 2015 16:10
A local politician feels the failed water referendum in November was also a sign the public doesn't support the direction of the master water plan. "The master water plan, the way it was presented originally, in my opinion, is now rejected by the electorate because they rejected the 70 million dollar borrowing referendum," says Coldstream Greater Vernon Advisory Committee director Gyula Kiss. Kiss wants to see a new approach to the plan that would focus on separating domestic and agricultural sources which he says would be more effective and less costly in the long run. "Previously we provided irrigation water to domestic customers and now we are providing domestic water to the agriculture customers, so it's a very big increase in costs," adds Kiss. Regional District of North Okanagan administrator David Sewell says they have "an endorsed master water plan that's not achievable as it's currently laid out" as a result of the referendum for six water projects shot down by a 66% margin November 15th. Special meetings for GVAC members will be set by RDNO staff in the coming weeks to discuss where the plan goes from here. GVAC Coldstream director Jim Garlick doesn't want to see the issue put on the back burner. "Things need to happen within the next 12 months to get it moving along," Garlick tells Kiss FM. Interior Health, which has been demanding upgrades to the system, will be involved in the discussions.