To the Editor,
Re: RDN report takes close look at water worries, Jan. 29.
On Gabriola Island, we do not have a supply problem, we have a management problem.
The waterfront locations for building houses are not only popular, but are usually close or on bedrock, just above the tide line and therefore subject to saltwater intrusion.
Extreme bluff lots are also prone to water supply difficulties, but are popular because of the view component. Because of the diverse and complex geology of Gabriola, other areas are short of groundwater as well.
Residents who have decided to build on these water-challenged lots have come to feel entitled to deliveries of bulk groundwater from other areas lucky enough to have excess capacities.
However, the neighbouring residents of the bulk groundwater pumping sites feel threatened by the export of their localized water source. Hence we have a perceived water supply problem.
We get, on Gabriola Island, 36 inches of rain per year and this translates into 21,000 gallons of water for 1,000 square feet of roof (small roof) that can be stored for summer use.
Some houses have large cisterns, up to 45,000 gallons, so clearly water supply is not a problem. Management of that water supply clearly is a problem.
Gabriola Islanders are now forced to pay the Regional District of Nanaimo for water management of the perceived water problem and it now has two years’ worth of our money. The RDN likes to spend our money on staff meetings and reports that do little to solve the perceived problem.
The Gabriola Groundwater Management Society arranged a meeting with staff to discuss the use of our tax money to promote the collection, storage, treatment and use of winter-collected rain water to manage the perceived water problem.
Staff knew in advance of our request for staff’s time, yet when we got there for the meeting, there was nothing that staff would do to assist us. It is Gabriola’s money that was being proposed to help solve the water storage issue. This money is ours, not the RDN’s.
It is time for the RDN to come up with solutions, not more wasted meetings. The Gabriola Groundwater Management Society has a worthwhile project and it was rejected by RDN staff. The society has requested a detailed financial report for the expenditures to date for the $125,000 we have lent the RDN so far.
I would like our money returned to us for the use of managing our perceived water problem.
I wonder how much the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Snapshot cost to produce.
Jeremy Baker
Gabriola Island
What do you think? Give us your comments by fax at 250-753-0788 or by e-mail: editor@nanaimobulletin.com. Be sure to spell out your first and last names.
