Editor:
What’s the latest on our forever water crisis? It appears that the SCRD is now seriously looking at the option put forward by the shishalh Nation to build two reservoirs on the Heidelberg Materials site. I am all in favour of immediate, urgent action to provide the Coast with enough water to avoid the draconian rationing that has become routine, but there are some questions about this proposal that need answers.
Have we seen a feasibility study to assess the proposal? Is one planned? Will the proposed reservoirs provide enough water to make a significant difference? How much is enough water, anyways?
Does the SCRD have any idea how much the reservoirs might cost? How does that compare to other options?
What about the location? The proposed reservoirs are directly downhill from the dump – what risk of contamination does that pose?
The site is at least 100 metres lower in elevation than the water treatment plant. The cost of pumping massive amounts of water that far up hill would be very high – and it would be a permanently recurring cost. Is that financially and environmentally responsible? Given that the reservoirs would be on land outside its jurisdiction, would the SCRD have guaranteed control of the facility?
We need to know an awful lot more about this proposal before it can be taken seriously. We require full disclosure for all development projects – large or small – and that the information be put into the public domain. Why are the full details for this proposal not being released?
Meanwhile, the SCRD still has a huge problem for this summer – the Church Road well is very unlikely to provide enough water to stave off more extreme rationing. What are the SCRD Board and staff doing to save us this year?
Keith Maxwell
West Sechelt
