Penalty for Conserving Water

That's exactly what it amounts to.
A hit for using 20 per cent less water.
Compliments of Greater Vernon Water and the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee members that  approved Greater Vernon Water's rate sheets...yes, sheets (plural) (rates begin on page 9 of 14).  (Remember that the Black Mountain Irrigation District has ONE rate sheet, and it's double spaced).

Don Graham's letter to the editor was printed in the Morning Star December 5, 2014:

"I recently received my third quarter utility bill and the water cost portion of this bill is enormous.  

Last year when I received the same third quarter bill (which I also thought was enormous), I decided to do something about it and adjusted my water consumption, bringing my water usage down by almost 20 per cent.  

Guess what?  My bill this year was almost the same as last year!

A review of what has happened here has brought me some interesting results.  On March 19th, the Regional District of North Okanagan board approved a new tiered fee structure, including the infrastructure base fee, increasing the cost to domestic (residential users) by almost 20 per cent.
Yes, almost 20 per cent.

This in the face of inflationary guidelines of two per cent.  I guess the cost of water is not included in the calculations for inflation."

          Don Graham                                       

A timely water issue excerpt from The Rotarian, December 2014, issue:

"...I wondered whether maintaining and improving infrastructure is the right approach, and thought about the significance of flushing our toilets and watering our gardens with potable water.  In some countries, like China, tap water is not fit for human consumption or is of dubious quality, while potable water is delivered through water dispensers.  In places like Hong Kong, toilets are flushed with seawater, and potable water is delivered through a different set of pipes..."

Christian Kober (Shanghai, China)

"So...is improving infrastructure the right approach?" muses Kia.