Editor:
Mr. Maxwell’s concerns regarding reservoir plans (“Questions for reservoir transparency,” Coast Reporter, Feb. 7) are valid and shared by many of us. Letters to this publication and questions raised at SCRD meetings have failed to elicit assurances that full transparency to all aspects of this project are a priority for council.
This is a mega project by Coast standards. Yet I would challenge that most Coasters know no more than that there will be a hole dug in the ground, a liner placed in it, and pipes attached to some sort of water treatment system. There are key questions that should have already been addressed, such as cost overruns, daily operation of the reservoir, and how much the SCRD (taxpayers) will pay for the next 50 years to set standards for and get water from a reservoir it does not own on land it does not own. Perhaps it is time to form a permanent Reservoir Board comprising the SCRD, the Nation, and taxpayer representatives to focus exclusively on this mega-project, giving regular public reports on its progress and all of its challenges?
Shelagh Nerney, Sechelt
