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Editorial: Hook 'em up to water source

Lack of potable water in rural areas of concern to residents

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