Frankly Speaking

White Rock resident Beverly McLaughlin took this photo of the water in her washing machine last fall. She said "aesthetically, it's very unpleasing." On June 5, there were more reports of dark-coloured water coming from the taps in White Rock homes. Just when you think the White Rock water utility takeover couldn’t get any murkier, it does – both literally and, more importantly, figuratively. In just one week, the public learned that (yet again) the water is cloudy and disgusting to look at; the federal government has moved in to help Semiahmoo First Nation get clean water and get out of any dealings with White Rock’s water system; and the city and Metro Vancouver are pulling out all the stops in court to keep every possible detail of the takeover of the water system secret. The dirty water story came from Coldicutt Avenue resident Derek Sigurdson. He was leaving his house June 5 when he was stopped by a neighbour carrying a glass of brown water. “He said, ‘...

Water conservation should be a fundamental objective of any government and community, no matter where the water comes from. While B.C. generally has an abundance of water, due to our regular rainy season and lots of snow in the mountains, last year was an exception. Water levels in reservoirs were low and there were lengthy restrictions on water use during the spring, summer and fall months. A delegation to White Rock council reinforced the importance of water conservation last week. Marilyn McArthur said her Beachview Avenue triplex will be charged for using a minimum 12,000 cubic feet of water per quarter, even though the water actually used by the residents is just one-third of that amount. While she has some concern about the extra cost – up quarterly to $610 from $94 – she told councillors that the most important thing is water conservation. “The important thing, I think, is not the fee. It’s the fact that we’re wasting water and people are being overcharged for...