Multi-million-dollar changes to Greater Vernon’s water system are making waves.
Coldstream council spent considerable time Monday debating the options proposed during Greater Vernon’s master water plan review.
“We need to have more of a discussion about what’s been presented,” said Coun. Maria Besso.
“It’s not certain what the right direction is.”
Option two calls for partial separation for irrigation and domestic uses, with treatment at the Duteau Creek and Mission Hill plants. Total capital costs would be about $105.6 million, with annual operating costs of $1.5 million.
Option three would see irrigation needs completely separated from domestic demands, with treatment occurring at the Duteau and Mission Hill plants. The price for construction would be $146.2 million, while annual operating costs would be $1.3 million.
“There’s no easy solution. All of them are costly,” said Besso.
Coun. Gyula Kiss favours option seven, which includes total separation, with domestic water treated at the Mission Hill facility only. The Duteau Creek plant would only be for non-treated irrigation use.
“The costs would be well defined for everyone,” said Kiss.
It’s expected capital would be $148.1 million, while operations annually would be $0.88 million.
Under option seven, domestic customers would get their water from Kalamalka Lake and possibly Okanagan Lake in the future and Kiss insists that is better than the current system of treating all water no matter the use.
“Most people would be upset that (treated) water is going to go on crops,” he said.
The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee will review the options further Thursday, and a final decision could be made by the end of June.
