Water and Parksville

Here we go again … Water Conservation Level 4 started today in Parksville.  That makes it five out of the past six years that we’ve gone to the highest level in our fair city.  I doubt it was much of a surprise to anyone who noted the lack of snow this past winter and how quickly the mountain snowpack disappeared this spring.  The trend is obvious;  climate change and warming winter temperatures have eroded our natural water storage system (snowpack) reducing the natural river flow through the dry summer period.

As I look out onto my front lawn, freshly watered by a steady rainfall yesterday, I think about how water management is a critical topic for many in our city.  While there is enough water to serve our daily needs year-round, it is the requirement to keep the environmental flow needs of the Englishman River (our major water source) at minimum levels over the summer that conflicts with our need/desire for outdoor water use.   

 I have been following with interest the recent presentations and reports given by Kerr Wood Leidal, the consulting engineers tasked by the City of Parksville to conduct a Water Use Planning and Management Study Report.  The reports are all public and can be found on the City’s website under AWS/ERWS . 

What struck me is that there are many strategies that can be implemented to improve the current short-term (10 year) situation such as public education on water conservation, working with high users (including the City itself) to improve water management, restructuring water rates and looking for operational efficiencies throughout the system.   It is also clear that all those measures won’t be enough to meet our medium-term (25 years) to long-term (50+ years) needs.  So what to do ?

My initial read of all the documentation is that in the short term we need to focus on efficiencies and a revised water rate structure.  In the medium term the focus needs to be on construction of a second dam in the Mt. Arrowsmith watershed to better balance water supply with the year-round needs of our growing city.

But this conversation shouldn’t happen just at the Council table.  I support Council’s decision to include Water Management in the upcoming Official Community Plan (OCP) consultation to be launched in the fall.  So please, read the information, gather your thoughts and ideas, and let’s have that discussion this fall.  I hope with your support that I will be at the Council Table listening and learning.

If you have any questions about my candidacy, please fill out the "Ask Ralph" section at the bottom of the Home page and I will get back to you pronto.