Were water hogs, Vancouver.
So says Peter Judd, the citys general manager of engineering.
Judd made the comment at Tuesdays city council meeting while delivering a presentation on why there will be a spike in utility rates next year. According to Judd, Vancouverites consume more litres of water per day than residents of Victoria, Calgary, Toronto, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Stockholm, London, Paris, Melbourne and Copenhagen. If Im reading the city graph correctly, the average Vancouverite consumes about 320 litres per day compared to just under 150 litres per day in Copenhagen.
So, yes oink, oink.
In fact, Judd said, our neighbours to the souththose coffee-drinking Seattleitesconsume one-third less water per day than we dwellers of this world-class city. Why?
Seattle has universal water metering, Vancouver doesnt. Which means if you live in a house and dont consume a lot of water and the guy down the street lives in a palace and needs to fill his pool, water his huge garden and keep his putting green of a lawn from turning brown, you pay the same for water. Theres no appetite from city council to impose mandatory water metering in the city but that is a requirement for new homes being constructed in Vancouver. So how do Vancouverites lose the water hogs moniker?
According to a city staff report that went before council Tuesday, mandatory water meters for new construction is one solution. The others are developing and commencing enhanced water education, incentive and conservation programs and continuing to expand public access to drinking water. Residents can also voluntarily install water meters.
In the meantime, expect to pay more for water. The majority of council approved a 9.9 per cent hike for water rates next year. Thats about a $46 boost from 2010, according to Judd.
The biggest chunk of that 9.9 per cent comes from a new scheme the city is calling pay as you go. That scheme translates to five per cent of the 9.9 per cent cost.
Vision Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie, councils money guy, explained that the five per cent will be in place for the next three years, which will bring in $15 million to pay for water infrastructure upgrades.
Why is council doing this?
Louie says the pay as you go scheme means the city wont be paying borrowing/interest costs to do infrastructure upgrades. He says residents will feel some short term pain for long term gain. Of course, the unknown factor is how much Metro Vancouver will charge for water services. Next year, it will be 3.3 per cent of a Vancouverites 9.9 per cent hike.
That Metro charge goes to pay for projects such as the Seymour-Capilano water filtration plant. There are also plans for waste water plants in the region costing $1.5 billion.
Suddenly, said the taxpayer, Im not as thirsty anymore.
Twitter: @Howellings
