Nanaimo water worries with Lantzville

General

On June 17, 2013 Nanaimo Council voted 5-3 to supply of water to Lantzville. Three opposed were Bestwick, McKay and Kipp. The following Nanaimo water worries were raised by delegates at the council meeting:

  • How many times is Jump Lake Water Reserve empty?
  • Where is the next dam planned and how much will it cost?
  • Nanaimo doesn’t own its watershed and with FIPA, (Foreign Investment and Protection Act) foreign ownership is possible, so who will ultimately own our watershed?
  • Is this the initial move to bring Lantzville into amalgamation with Nanaimo?
  • No prior public consultation on water sharing
  • Original developer for Upper Lantzville went bankrupt because of water issues
  • Currently there is a court case pending between two developers who have land interests in Upper Lantzville, why help satisfy something that is before the court?

Nanaimo taxpayers are seeing their water rates increase over the cost of living.  An $85 million dollar water treatment plant is currently under construction at South Forks and a new dam is being considered. Presently, there is no water strategy in place in the Nanaimo Regional District to deal with water sharing between communities.

Where does Nanaimo’s water come from?

Below outlined in yellow is the Nanaimo Watershed, where Jump Creek Dam and South Fork Dam are located.  Outlined in black is Nanaimo city limits.

Jump Creek Watershed
Jump Creek Watershed – Nanaimo’s Drinking Water

Need for purple pipes

California is a leader in using purple pipes and Vancouver Island should take note. Purple pipes take grey water and allow it be used for other non drinking uses such as outdoor watering and cleaning. Originally by 2010 it was mandated in BC that purple pipes be included in all new construction, for water collection and reuse. But this was turned down by developers and politicos.

One thought on “Nanaimo water worries with Lantzville”

  1. Yes, I am in complete agreement with you about the purple pipes. If it isn’t done regionally (like with the sewer and water systems) then they should allow it to be built into the house. Another area that Lantzville should look is in rain water management and harvesting. That is a huge resource that we just need to put some time into, to take advantage of. While the current water deal in no way helps large developers, it is still a crutch that Lantzville is leaning on when we should be standing on our own two feet.

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