Well, How about that Open House?

The Water Use Plan has been revealed. What does it all mean?
Mr. David Sellers, Plan Consultant, gave a very detailed and interesting presentation on the Plan. I will quickly summarize here for those who did not attend the meeting:

• The watershed model is based on the flow data from Camp Creek, which is 5% of the total watershed. This data is then extended to the entire watershed. (Is 5% a large enough sample?)
• Water consumption data has shown that in 2002 Summerland's usage exceeded the calculated demand, and in 2003 and 2004, our usage was less than the calculated demand. This shows that there is a potential for conservation methods; however, you will remember that in 2003, there was a complete ban on residential lawn watering.
• Our new water use plan will include "real time" flow indicators and a trigger graph that will determine our stage of water restrictions and balance that with flows for the fish.
• The operating agreement that has been reached will provide certainty for Summerland water users and security for fish flows. It also targets water use reductions. The precise details of the agreement will change somewhat, allowing more water for the fish habitat once Thirsk Dam is expanded.

Some key points about this Water Use Plan that came out during Question Period:

• When modeling was done that looks ahead in time and takes Climate Change into account, it shows that the Trout Creek Watershed CAN NOT provide for all water stakeholders and additional water source will HAVE TO BE FOUND.
• The population base that was used for this model was that of 2002. This is a plan for TODAY and does not take into accound any amount of population growth. Repeated: there are no projections for population expansion in this model or agreement.
• The Prairie Valley reservoir will continue to be used as a final catchment before the water treatment plant and so far, no leachate from the landfill has been found. (Thank Goodness! I wonder how long our luck will hold out on that one.)
• Water consumption in the district has decreased over the last 20 years. Their guess as to why is that we use better irrigation practices. I wonder if it may be the reduction in the number of farms as well.

So, lots of information, and I think it is great that the Municipality hosted this presentation and the Question Period. This Water Use Plan appears to be a fair agreement and a good compromise for our water users and the protection of fish habitat. However, I am disturbed by the fact that any amount of population growth will have a direct impact on this balance, and it seems that this has not been addressed. At least not by this Plan. Mr. David Sellers made this very clear. This Plan does not address climate change or population growth. Council can not use this plan to answer the community's questions of growth will affect our water availability. It simply did not address this question at all.