-Taking over system not an option unless district joins Town: mayor-

OSOYOOS TIMES-October 15, 2008-

By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

Residents of the Osoyoos Irrigation District-East Bench will have a say on the future of their 41-year-old domestic water system at a public meeting on Oct. 23.
In order to meet Interior Health water safety standards brought into effect three years ago, the water system needs a roughly $9-million overhaul.
The district, which is on an almost constant boil-water notice, has asked the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) to take over the water system, which has roughly 140 domestic connections, because the RDOS is eligible for provincial grants which could be used to upgrade the district's water-supply infrastructure.
The district is not eligible for such provincial grants and if the system is not upgraded, the province could seize the district's assets and put it into receivership.
In August, the RDOS received the final version of a cost/benefit review on what would be necessary for a takeover of the district's water system.
The report, prepared by Kelowna-based Associated Engineering, concludes that the best option for updating the district's water system would be twinning, or to use groundwater from a contained aquifer to provide a separated pipeline system with water for residential use only.rnTests would need to be conducted to determine if there is enough underground water in the area to fulfil the district's residential drinking water needs, the report states.
District Chair Linda Lobb said this option seems to be the least expensive to maintain and operate but would take a lot of time to actually install.rnIn fact, all the options would take a long time to complete, she said.  What do we do in the meantime?rnThe report also outlined several other options for updating the water system.
One includes overhauling the entire system, which would mean building a new high lift pump station and water treatment facility, to treat water from Osoyoos Lake.
Another option would also mean twinning the system, but on a smaller scale, with treatment limited to the lake water needed for domestic use.
The district could also explore point of entry treatment where lake water would be treated where it enters the district's system.
The last option the report brings up is connecting the district's supply to the Town of Osoyoos water supply.
The district and the RDOS have approached the Town in the past with such a request, but the Town has refused.
Osoyoos Mayor John Slater said the Town is already responsible for rural water systems 8 and 9 on the northwest shore of the lake.
In order for a takeover of the water system to even be considered, he added, the district would need to apply to come into the Town's boundaries.
We will not look at that until they come into the Town of Osoyoos, Slater said. Until they do, we're not even looking at it.rnThe Town also indicated in a letter to the RDOS in June that currently, there is no reserve capacity in the Town's municipality water system.rnSome district residents have said in the past they are weary of letting the Town take over the system as users would have to pay Town taxes and orchards could easily be taken out of the Agricultural Land Reserve for development purposes.
Rob Birtles, Interior Health's acting senior public health inspector, said if the system were left as it is, the district would be vulnerable to bacterial outbreaks.
E. coli bacteria was found in the district's drinking water supply on Sept. 9 when one of the water system's chlorinators ran out.
Once the chlorinator was back online and the water was tested two days later, no bacteria was found.
But a test two weeks later did find E. coli in the system again.
When there is E. coli in the system, there is always the potential for disease outbreak, Birtles said.
A number of district residents have told the Osoyoos Times they choose to drink the water despite the boil-water notices and have experienced no health problems.
Birtles said he has no agenda to alarm anyone, but people who ignore the notice are at risk of a water-borne disease.
Lobb said that even if the RDOS takes control of the system and receives provincial money for upgrades, district residents will still need to help pay roughly one-third of the overhaul costs.
That would mean about 140 people would have to cover roughly $3 million and Lobb said many residents would have a difficult time with such a burden.
Many of the users are pensioners on fixed income, she said.
The Oct. 23 public meeting will give district residents a chance to look over and discuss the feasibility report's options for the system and hear where the RDOS stands on those options.
It takes place at 7 p.m. at the Osoyoos Legion on 78th Avenue and representatives from the RDOS and Interior Health are expected to attend.
news@osoyoostimes.comrn