Wars have been fought over water and
neighbours have carried on feuds over water.
Water is essential to all life making it an extremely
precious commodity. On the West Coast we
take water for granted because it pours down in
buckets, but it isn’t as readily available as one
might think. There are places on the coast where
cisterns are utilized and water is conserved.
Municipal water systems are costly both because
of the infrastructure and the maintenance. So one
would think that hooking more folks up to the
supply would lessen the financial aspect. But, it is
not a decision of the municipality but of the CRD.
It is expensive to lay water lines and this is usually
done when there is the prospect of a larger housing
development.
Where unsafe drinking water is a risk then there
is a chance to get hooked up, but when it is merely
an issue of supply, then many residents are left on
their own. Most rural residences have wells and
water is supplied from the aquifer lying far beneath
the surface. Unfortunately many aquifers are
inadequate to supply the number of wells on it and
there lies the problem for homeowners along Otter
Point Road.
Perhaps they need to petition the CRD to get
them hooked up, perhaps they need to band
together to pay for laying water mains. Whatever
they choose to do will be costly, but with the
assurance of a water supply their property values
will likely increase and offset the initial costs.
We take water for granted, until we don’t have
any, and then it becomes a big problem. The
District of Sooke council and the Juan de Fuca
director can lobby the CRD and perhaps this would
resolve some of the issues in this case.
People shouldn’t have to go without safe drinking
water when the source is so close. It’s a basic need
