The time has come for a regional water and wastewater authority
By Lethbridge Herald on September 22, 2023.
Editor:
One of the many benefits of modern society is the convenience and peace of mind that come from public utilities: clean water and lights that work seemingly without effort for decades. The reality however is that essential services are subject to failure if mismanaged.
Just as bad as planning to fail is failing to plan. Lethbridge taxpayers were rudely surprised last week to learn that our water and wastewater systems have been neglected to the point that we are on the verge of rationing and/or an environmental disaster.
According to the City, the reason we need to immediately find hundreds of millions of dollars for expansion is because, surprisingly, those job-creating businesses we attracted to our industrial parks are using too much water and generating too much effluent for our little system to handle.
As if successful commercial activity wasn’t bad enough, we have all those surrounding communities housing regional businesses, shoppers and employees to blame.
It seems those who are also using the water we supply are sending it back to us in the form of sewage. Did nobody anticipate this consequence soone? Now that this has become too late to stop, we have a crisis on our hands.
Apparently, all those millions of dollars in off-site levies, water bills, municipal taxes and fees charged to industry and outlying communities are not enough to feed the beast.
Beleaguered taxpayers meanwhile are getting body-checked from every direction. Whether from rising interest rates, inflation, carbon taxes, and more, jacking up water rates by 25 per cent over four years is the last thing businesses and consumers need right now.
Additionally, borrowing huge piles of money and holding out hands for yet another round of provincial grants, have been put on the table, along with tasking the surrounding communities to help fund our capital shortfall.
The only parties that seem to be exempt from this cash call are the very industries we attracted to come and set up shop here.
We need to start thinking regionally about this situation as a train wreck is about to happen unless we make corrective change in direction.
If the surrounding communities, province and, yes, industry too, are going to be asked to ante up to cover our financial shortfall, why shouldn’t they also have input so far as how these essential services are going to be managed.
According to Einstein, the thinking that got us to where we are is not the thinking that will get us to where we want to be.
The time has come to create a Regional Water and Wastewater Authority to ensure this drastic situation is dealt with effectively and never allowed to happen again.
Dale Leier
Lethbridge
16-15
It’s clear that the author is upset about something, but it’s very unclear if they understand the problem, let alone the solutions. We’ve failed to invest in our water system, but also taxes should be lower. We have too much inefficient bureaucracy, so let’s create another bureaucracy to solve it. The last thing businesses need is increased rates, but also they are to blame for using up the capacity we have.
Should we collect more money, or less? Should we have more bureaucracy and centralization, or less? Should we encourage industry more, or less? Yes! says the author. Maybe there’s a good idea in here somewhere, but it’s sure not clear where.
An excellent commentary. That a self-identified libertarian would call for a regional level of governance in the management of water processing and effluent treatment , which is not a bad idea, is proof positive that irony is well and truly dead.
Rationing water points to gross mismanagement!! Who is responsible? A face or faces should be attached to this disaster. Accountability matters.
I guess, then, that would be all our faces – the people who waste so much water on luxurious lawns and ten minute showers, the people who haven’t shifted to low-flow fixtures, those who are washing their cars and trucks constantly …
Maybe you should look in the mirror.
Nonesense comments like this are waste of time. Speak like an adult; not a half wit.
Waste of time, you say. And yet you took the time to read and respond to my comment.
Ben Matlock is correct: Irony has left the building.
I don’t think that irony is dead. Many novels drip with irony. However, a general understanding of what irony is, and therefore what statements are ironic, does appear to be wanting.
If I may, The Dude was asking if you are a water waster, and hence a contributor to the problem. Admittedly his comment was rather oblique so no shame in missing his point.
And, for the record, I’ve been following The Dude’s comments for some time, and while he pokes fun at some of the comments here, he is far from a half wit.
Missing from this letter is any mention of the impact of warmer and drier summers on increased water demand.
the city has been sending away treated water to more and more towns. are we getting capital in return to cover the cost of that entire process? i expect none of our treated water is being used in feedlots. moreover, more and more water heavy dependent businesses are setting up shop here. golf courses are sucking away a lot for grass, although trees, shrubs and flowers being looked after does benefit the big picture. meanwhile, more and more people are moving here. add to that the lack of precipitation the last few years, along with scorching summers, and presto, we have our situation.