WeB次元官网网址檙e extremely fortunate here on the South Island to have a plentiful, seemingly unlimited supply of water.
Due largely to the foresight of the people who lived here 100 years ago, when they decided to keep water a public resource rather than have it privately owned, we continue to live a life of luxury when it comes to this precious resource.
The construction of a reservoir and flowline around the holdings of the Esquimalt Waterworks Company B次元官网网址� a feat of engineering that would be awe-inspiring even by todayB次元官网网址檚 standards B次元官网网址� put us on the path to where we are today by avoiding having a corporation dictate water use for the region.
You can find out more about how this came about and what it still means to the region this weekend at the H2Open House up at Goldstream Park.
The other reason we live in a veritable water paradise is that for the most part, we have respect for the resource itself.
IB次元官网网址檝e lived in many places where it was an everyday occurrence to see people hand-watering their lawn to keep it green and lush, due to restrictions that said they could only water by hand on days when they couldnB次元官网网址檛 run sprinklers. That was a rule meant to keep fruits and vegetables from struggling.
I had one neighbour in Kamloops who watered his house. IB次元官网网址檓 not even exaggerating. He literally put a sprinkler on his roof for hours at a time. I assume this was to keep it cool in the heat of summer.
This same neighbour washed his car B次元官网网址� an old rust bucket without much life left in it (I want to say a late 1980s Chrysler, maybe?) B次元官网网址� on a daily basis.
I donB次元官网网址檛 see that kind of thing here.
I see beautiful lawns being scorched brown and bleached by the sun rather than having sprinklers going on them at all hours of the day and night, thus creating streams of water running out onto the road and into the storm drains.
I see cars on the roads covered with patinas of dust and dirt as their owners await the next rainfall to do most of the work for them, rather than getting the hose, bucket and sponge out twice a week to keep their SUV shiny for no reason other than their personal vanity.
Sure, there are exceptions.
There are still, and likely always will be people who run sprinklers from the minute theyB次元官网网址檙e allowed to until the minute theyB次元官网网址檙e not.
There are people who have decided their car must always be shiny. There are people who run their tap while theyB次元官网网址檙e brushing their teeth.
But I also think those people are in the minority around the West Shore and Greater Victoria.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 why we continue to see our streams full of fish, our reservoir at a level that can support our needs and we arenB次元官网网址檛 constantly bombarded by warnings about how the fire department is concerned they wonB次元官网网址檛 have enough water to fight a blaze if one starts up B次元官网网址� as was the case not long ago in another community in which I resided.
So good on you, West Shore and South Island residents, for doing whatB次元官网网址檚 best to conserve this most precious of our planetB次元官网网址檚 natural resources.
Keep turning off those taps, so hopefully weB次元官网网址檒l never have to worry about whether anything will happen when we turn them on.
Mike Davies is a reporter with the Goldstream B次元官网网址 Gazette.
mdavies@goldstreamgazette.com
