After many years of allowing folks to help themselves to the best water in the world, Gibsons council has decided to put an end to this largesse.
This decision has some people frothing at the mouth. Why, they wonder, is the greedy council suddenly putting a price on what they deem to be "free" water?
In this case, the answer is abundantly clear. First of all, just because water falls from the sky and happens to fuel an aquifer in Gibsons doesn't mean there's no cost in getting that water to consumers. There are infrastructure costs - pipes, the well site and manpower to service these necessities.
However, that's not the whole picture. There's also the need to conserve this precious commodity. It's a sad commentary on our society, but we don't place a value on anything we get for free, whether or not it's an invaluable asset. In fact, we tend to think it's our due. Along the lines of our mothers telling us not to waste food because of the starving children in Africa, we should remember there are people right now trying to survive one of the worst droughts in history. It's the epitome of arrogance to think we can squander what others are literally giving their lives to obtain. We've seen people at the Gibsons well with many bottles not even bothering to turn off the water to insert another vessel. The area around the well is probably the best watered on the Sunshine Coast.
And who, we wonder, are the prime users of the water? It would seem unlikely that Gibsonites are the main consumers. After all, they have their own water piped directly into their houses, which they pay for with their taxes, a cost soon to be metered to the individual households. Therefore, it seems unreasonable for Gibsons' neighbours to expect the Town residents to pick up the tab for their water consumption.
The only quibble we have with charging for the water is the actual cost. We agree with our many readers who responded to a recent question of the week by saying 25 cents is too much. We urge the council and staff at the Town of Gibsons to take another look at the charge and see if there's a way to lower it.
In the meantime, it's time we all treated this precious resource with the respect it deserves. And no amount of tears should change that.
