Water Cop Big Brother same thing

[voice of reason]

not enough water in the reservoir is an unacceptable reason when we are sitting on a 100 km long 800ft deep lake. the damn thing is overflowing and we are still short on water ?? the problem is an infrastructure issue not a water issue

[LTD]

you don't actually think they pump water into the reservoirs or up to rutland do you, the reservoirs are only so big until they are upgraded there will be water shortages

[seewood]

OK, my 2cents worth.
Water is for the most part free... What we pay for is the distribution, maintenance and upgrades of the system.
In Kelowna with the 4-5 water purveyors, the costs could be reduced or existing money be diverted to upgrading and replace time X pipes/ control valves.
Years ago I went to a forum at the Grand where the guest speaker was a fellow from Las Vegas city's water supply organization. There was, like Kelowna, a number of purveyors supplying water to Vegas and surrounding area. Everyone was "protecting their turf" so to speak but when this fellow came in to amalgamate, the first thing he said was " no one will loose their job" That ended up being the largest reason for resistance to amalgamate. I believe within 6 months the details were worked out and Vegas is under one water purveyor now. As people retired or quit, those jobs were not replaced and over time the number to effectively operate the one system came into effect.
They implemented new restrictions onto new subdivisions regarding lawn size and watering restrictions. Fines for water on the sidewalk and road surfaces. Water meters of course. They had water cops drive and take date/time stamped pictures of offenders and the fine was mailed to them and if not dealt with went onto property taxes. There was no direct interaction between home owners and water cops for obvious reasons. ( Many home owners are armed down there). Kelowna does not have to reinvent the wheel, just go to other jurisdictions to see how they have managed and if anything will work for Kelowna, discuss it and see what happens.
The idea of meters is to keep wasteful usage down unless you have the money to pay for it. I believe it is a sliding scale as to what a connection uses.
Pulling water out of the Lake requires a water licence and perhaps Kelowna has one as do many jurisdictions up and down the lake. Issue is how much water can be pulled from the lake during peak usage when the refill capacity is at its lowest. If the level goes down to the extent it was high this year, I suspect there would be no shortage of belly aching for the water being too low.
The Okanagan is pretty much the driest part of Canada and has the least rainfall. Evidently we use an average of about 900 + Liters/ day/person for what it is worth nearly triple what I believe Israel uses...

[Queen K]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#204024

I was looking at the photo and wondering if the fire would have taken out so much or have been so serious if they had kept their grass watered.

I'm thinking, "no."

And how many yards do I see in Lower and Upper Mission just burnt to a crisp from lack of watering? Lots of them. I'm driving up there five days a week and it's shocking how much feul is allowed to be built up along fencelines and road ways.

Fish and Game Club on Casorso? Dont' they have a whole club? Lots of people? Can't they organize just to clean up grasses and weeds to protect their own club? I asked a hunter on this forum if he knew anyone to contact there about the matter but nope. No one.

[Tack]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-204024-1-.htm#204024

I was looking at the photo and wondering if the fire would have taken out so much or have been so serious if they had kept their grass watered.

You're right, unused lawn left to dry out is a fire hazard. It would be much better if people weren't allowed to have these huge lawns with non-native species (lawn grass). People spend all this time watering and mowing something they never use, change your lawn to a sustainable lawn and stop worrying about how green it is in the middle of summer. All I hear from my home-owning coworkers with big lawns is how much they hate mowing and maintaining it.

[Piecemaker]

We are in Victoria area right now and we've seen only a couple green (irrigated) lawns. Here they just go with whatever nature is doing. Striving for green lawn in Kelowna in the summer really is a ridiculous waste of resources.

[Queen K]

I was looking forward to rain today for the gardens.

Gardens are all I have, as I pulled out every blade of grass several years ago.