Three Little Birdies

...were talking about the #1 topic in the North Okanagan:  water rates.
So I took up my position as a fly on the wall.


One was a recently-returned snowbird; the second, a worker in the "drilling business";  the third, a business owner whose company is located 47 kilometres south of Vernon.

Snowbird:  Wife and I spend 165 days annually at our place in LaQuinta, California.  Two people having two showers a day plus we use water for laundry and dishes.  Our monthly rate is from $8.04 to $8.11.  A month!  When we're not there, there's a flat water rate of $7.00 a month by the Imperial Water District in the Cochella Valley.  And not just water, same with energy costs:  with A/C on basically non-stop in January, February and March our invoice is between $70 and $90 monthly.  Dirt cheap!  Back to water.  Here in Vernon?  Hell, we paid $550 under Rate E for the last quarter!  Even when we're not here we pay $200 quarterly for water, sewer and garbage!

A (muted) bird voice:  California's running out of water...

Snowbird:  Americans don't gouge residents...on anything, whether it's fuel (less than half what we pay at the pump), you can buy five cases of beer down there for what you pay here for one.

Muted bird:  I hear the best Scotch sells for one-sixth what we pay.  Good ole' Bring Cash (BC) taxes.

Drilling business bird: I've lost count how many intake pipes we've sunk into Okanagan Lake for people with homes on the lake.   Even the $2 million hockey players.  No application fees, no water rights, no permits, no quarterly invoices, no water meters.

Muted voice:  And they still won't let the rest of us have Okanagan Lake water?  Jeez!

Business owner bird:  No water meter is required for my business, with 55 employees.

Muted voice:  You set up shop in the right place then.

At this point, the fly on the wall couldn't remain detached:

Fly on the wall:  A huge cherry grower in our area can sell his cherries overseas for $32 a pound.  Thinking of the "irrigator" definition which is more accurate, reflecting "use" (as opposed to "farm/agriculture" water rates), the cherry farmer probably earns more annual revenue than I do!  We're all "irrigators".  At what point is a farm able to afford to pay higher water rates because he earns more gross revenue than a bona-fide "ICI/commercial" business.  You may or may not be aware:  for the last "x" number of years, I've had to declare my annual revenue to the BC Assessment Agency (of all people!)  My accountant says that's now the law...versus previously having to report income only to Canada Revenue. 

 "And a bureaucrat-bird swept down and ate the fly," predicted Kia.

Correct!