Councillor Kiss Provides Clarity

As always!
Gyula Kiss' clarity is a necessity for the rest of us to understand what is going on.

I am referring to the spur-of-the-moment visit (blog story Wednesday, June 22/16) yesterday from Kari Gronvold, a technician at Salmon Arm's Gentech Engineering Inc, with the company's "Lavington Questionnaire", presumably because Gentech has been hired by Greater Vernon Water as a consultant.

For what?
Who knows?
Well, Ms. Gronvold didn't elaborate as to why Gentech was doing a questionnaire.

I assumed yesterday--and discovered today that I assumed incorrectly--that the questionnaire should've been only for those folks in Lavington who currently received raw water from Greater Vernon Water.

Boy, was I wrong as I discovered on Gyula Kiss' blog!

Get a load of THIS:
copied directly from Mr. Kiss' blog:

"

SAC members could have learned a lot by asking the politicians why they publicly rejected the referendum during their election campaign after they supported the MWP. They could have saved a lot of time.  Even Director Macnabb wondered about why there was a change of heart by many of the politicians:

 

“To turn around and say they support the plan, but not the $70 million to fund it is disingenuous in my mind,” Said Director Macnabb...
"“I’d rather work collaboratively than aggressively.... By stamping our feet saying you must do the funding, that’s not going to happen,” he says. (read all)
 

As it happened the Staff supported Option 2 prevailed, eliminating all of the options that would have used Kalamalka and Okanagan lakes for fully separated domestic supplies. Never mind the threat of climate change and higher treatment costs. 

The process will totally dismantle the original VID irrigation system and replace it with a complicated new system. There will be three supply lines (domestic only from Mission Hill, mixed irrigation/domestic water from the Duteau Treatment Plant and a new untreated irrigation water supply directly from Harvey Lake). All those systems will be the financial responsibility of the domestic customers. They will pay the cost of construction, operation and maintenance and the replacement value of the total system. The current 4% agriculture contribution of the total budget is a smidgen of those costs." 

Three supply lines?????
and a new untreated irrigation water supply directly from Harvey Lake?????

Where the hell is Harvey Lake?????

Find Waldo....er....a Harvey Lake.

So when the Gentech technician yesterday said that lines would be twinned, she was obviously referring to a new line on the north side of Buchanan Road to provide raw agricultural water from Harvey Lake?
 
I asked how much of the domestic/fireline (6 inch) had already been completed (50%?  80%  20%) over the years on the north side of Buchanan as people subdivided/development permits were awarded.  She said she didn't know, but agreed that residents here "choosing where to install a new treated domestic connection" would hinge on that information.  That's what was puzzling because we already have treated water to our homes and businesses...we simply don't have raw untreated water for irrigation.

Why would we choose to install a new (redundant, in my mind) domestic connection?

And I mentioned to her that I read in one of the Master Water Plan consulting reports (can't remember which one...MWP 2002? 2004?  Addendum?  MWP 2012?) that irrigation needs/usage on the north side of Buchanan Road was relatively low in the scheme of things, and likely would never justify the costs associated with providing twinned lines on Buchanan.

Well, so much for that, huh?

And where's the question on the Lavington survey that asks whether we are each prepared to pay for a new connection to our properties?  Or are there grants to pay for it (laughable...as that's our money too!)

So will Buchanan Road end up with 3 lines?

• the huge treated water pipe on the south side that takes treated water from DCWTP in a westerly direction to North Vernon and BX customers as well as fillling Goose Lake?

• the (partially completed?) "spurs" on the north side of Buchanan Road, i.e. that supply fire hydrants?

• then a third (albeit called twinned) line on the north side of Buchanan Road, presumably from the planned Harvey Lake source, that supplies raw agricultural water for irrigators here?  Despite consultants stating the irrigation demand here is so low as to not warrant the cost of providing twinned (that includes raw water) lines...

"GVW are the opposite of Master Communicators," states Kia.

They'll just blame the Stakeholders' Advisory Committee members...for selecting Option 2.

Now I'm REALLY Confused

Had a visit today from a technician named Kari Gronvold of Gentech Engineering Inc. of Salmon Arm.
She indicated she didn't know a commercial facility existed here.

She stated she was doing a survey on providing domestic water connections to residents along Buchanan Road, including the Coldstream Ranch.

Before I get into an explanation of WHY I'm confused, here is the blank questionnaire she gave me on leaving, after she had taken copious notes following my answers to her questions.

Click on pages to enlarge:

Where my confusion began was with the questionnaire's second sentence, which reads:

"The RDNO is looking to separate the existing

 agricultural raw water from the

treated water supply by twinning the mains."

(underscoring by blog author).

 

Existing agricultural raw water?

Huh?

 

That hasn't been available on Buchanan Road since chlorination occurred at Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant.

We used to have raw irrigation water here (I think that ended some time in the late 90's when all the water on this street had been chlorinated).  Raw water was available in the early years of our property ownership (since 1975) firstly through the Vernon Irrigation District (VID) and then through the North Okanagan Water Association (NOWA).  Then GVW took over with the dissolution of the Greater Vernon Services Commission...and many residents believe that's when common sense died an agonizing death.

On reading the questions, I believe this questionnaire is only for those residents of Lavington/East Coldstream whose water is diverted (prior to entering the Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant) and supplies their farm irrigation with raw water...but not domestic water.

"A new domestic water service will be planned

beside the existing irrigation/domestic service.

If a different location

 for the service connection is required,

 please indicate the approximate location...".  Gentech questionnaire

I have no idea how much raw water is diverted from DCWTP, nor do I have any idea how many customers in that area have no treated water for domestic use...and therefore, no domestic connections.

So here's the puzzler:  The questionnaire concludes with  "A new domestic water service will be planned beside the existing irrigation/domestic service.  If a different location for the service connection is required, please indicate the approximate location...".

Huh? 

Since the big water main on the south side of Buchanan Road delivers treated water and serves most of Vernon and the BX/Spallumcheen as well as filling Goose Lake with chlorinated water, how can "existing agricultural raw water" be separated from the treated water supply at all on Buchanan Road?

And one question, in particular, raised my ire and got me on my soapbox:

"Does your current service(s) meet your daily demand?  (I replied during the technician's visit that my professionally designed irrigation plan, submitted during the development permit application stage in 2000/01, cannot today adequately water my property because of the water conservation measures that GVW has imposed (even/odd numbering for watering days, no watering Mondays at all).  Why?  "Cookie cutter rules" that don't take into account site-specific things like slope, aspect, winds, etc.)

I also used the opportunity to show the technician the sign on the clubhouse wall:

So...why the questionnaire?
It likely confuses all of Buchanan Road's residences, who have had domestic (treated) water for a long time. 

So why would they want a new (second) domestic connection now?
When we're already getting domestic (treated) water, and don't have raw irrigation water any more!

"It's probably a case of GVW bureaucrats not advising Gentech Engineering of who actually is on raw irrigation water," suggests Kia.


They likely gave Kari Gronvold the wrong map!

That's likely why...
Same old, same old!