It’s time to set the record straight with regards to the CVRD taking ownership and all responsibilities of the Lake Cowichan weir.
1. Water jurisdiction is controlled by the Province of B.C. and is well beyond the responsibilities of the CVRD
2. The existing weir was granted under provincial licence to BCFP (now Catalyst)
3. Catalyst must meet all provincial regulations with regards to waterflow in the Cowichan River
4. Water storage is controlled by the province and is granted under provincial licence.
5. Residents were “forced” years ago to give up using the lake as a drinking water source. The CVRD determined all residents had to receive water from a CVRD-treated water supply if available. Remember Walkerton, Ont.?
6. The existing weir operates and is maintained at no cost to the CVRD taxpayer.
7. The CVRD survey related to drinking water has nothing to do with the CVRD wanting to take control and ownership of the weir. It does provide these people with an enormously high number that they will use for their purposes — whatever that may be.
8. The CVRD directors continue to look for ways to spend taxpayer money without any regards for the taxpayer.
9. The CVRD directors will not use a public referendum to determine what the taxpayer thinks about this proposal. They will use the AAP method with as little publicity as possible.
And these are our elected officials. How disgusting!
Greg Whynacht
Youbou