After so many years of complaints, Invermere council has decided to proceed with some water testing, specifically to target what is causing the district water to taste and smell so foul. It’s just in time, too, as another round of complaints is coming up.
It’s without fail the unhappy comments about the District of Invermere’s water system seem to pour in over the summer when visitation is up and second-home residents return to inhabit their second homes during the hot summer months.
News about the water testing will be music to their ears.
And it’s a few more brownie points for the new council, which hasn’t wasted any time following through on a plan to right the wrongs that had voters complaining leading up to the 2014 municipal elections, the drinking quality of Invermere’s water being one. Another example being the quick timeframe in which they turned around a bylaw to allow mail-in voting, something that had been overlooked for years.
We say “new” council, but the faces at the table are essentially unchanged apart from the addition of Councillor Al Miller. While improving the quality of Invermere’s water has been a personal mission of Councillor Paul Denchuk for years, possibly Miller’s determination to bring fresh energy to council decision-making combined with some surplus in the budget, is helping float the idea of investigating why the local tap water tends to be so appaling to the palates of so many visitors and residents.
As Mayor Gerry Taft has reiterated, and repeatedly has said for years, the water meets health standards and is safe to drink.
But why, as one letter to the editor has questioned, isn’t the water fresh and clean-tasting across the board when Invermere is located in a mountain paradise with an abundance of streams, rivers and lakes? Finally, the answer will be available. And when it is, the next question will be whether or not the solution is affordable.
Let’s hope it’s a quick fix.
