Thank you to all who took the time to attend the open house April 8.
There are some points that I would like emphasize at this time. The Interior Health Authority who is the regulating agency for drinking water has confirmed in writing that the construction of the reservoir will not trigger chlorination of the water system. The reservoir is necessary to ensure that the district can supply the required quantity of water to all the customers at all times for all required purposes including fire protection. Back-up power (generators) whether they are powered by diesel or natural gas does nothing to address the supply issue during peak demand times, and they are only useful during power outages lasting longer than 30 minutes. The capital and operational costs of these generators will greatly exceed the cost of the reservoir over the long term and will provide no benefits to improving the efficiency and addressing the supply concerns of the current water system.
One of the residents took the time to distribute a flyer to attendees of the open house citing generators as an alternative to the reservoir and asked people to vote no for the reservoir borrowing bylaw.
He also stated that the town of Duncan B.C. had only wells and generators in place. The reality is that Duncan has (three) reservoirs; (two) that hold 500,000 gallons and (one) that holds 350,000 gallons for a total reservoir storage of 1,350,000 gallons to meet their supply and fire flow requirements. The population of Duncan is twice that of Keremeos but their water demand is considerably less.
We were unable to locate a community in B.C. close to Keremeos in size that did not have more reservoir storage than Keremeos does now.
This is an important project for Keremeos, the decision to support it or not should be based on the facts and not on the mis-information that is being circulated in the community.
Please direct any questions or comments to the district office 250 499-5651 or by e-mail kid@nethop.net