Since incorporation 5 years ago the District has been developing a set of strategic master plans to help guide decision-making that will enable the District of West Kelowna to experience healthy growth and remain a vibrant and resilient community. The latest of these strategic plans is the District’s draft Water Master Plan (WMP).

The draft WMP is very broad in scope and addresses:
-  Our existing & future water supply
-  Our watershed stability, drought tolerance
-  Our water’s ability to meet new Provincial water quality standards
-  Incremental future standards
-  System hydraulic and distribution requirements
-  Ongoing operations and renewal requirements
-  Water conservation impacts

“We have assembled a diverse group of community members with interest or expertise in water systems and supply  to act as a Steering Committee tasked with ensuring the draft Water Master Plan findings are sound and ready for public feedback”, says Mayor Doug Findlater. “The Steering Committee has developed and evaluated several long term water system options that mesh well with our District’s growth expectations and with the Interior Health Authority’s water quality guidelines.”

The draft WMP has seven options that have been evaluated based upon future water supply, drought tolerance, water quality, system reliability, environmental impacts, expandability, capital cost, operational costs, and incremental revenue requirements. The seven options range in cost from approximately $150 million to $175 million in capital improvements spread over the next 20 years; and the district hopes to offset some of these costs through qualifying Provincial grants and new development.

The District will be presenting the draft Water Master Plan with its water system requirement, analyses, and option layout and evaluation at two open houses in the community:

-  September 26th, 4pm to 6pm, Lakeview Heights Community Hall
-  September 30th, 4pm to 6pm, Holiday Inn

Residents are encouraged to attend, review the material, discuss and provide feedback to the Steering Committee members and staff who will be available to answer any questions. Open house feedback and Steering Committee recommendations will be forwarded to Council for their consideration on November 12, 2013.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013