I have been under the impression that it is illegal to bulk export
water from Canada. It is ok to ship bottled water, but not large bulk
amounts.

But I may have been wrong. In today's Vancouver Sun newspaper, there
was an article that discussed the use of water by Point Roberts -- they
receive their water from the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional
District). What's also amazing is that they pay for a bunch of water
that they don't even consume.

So -- if exporting water is illegal, then how can the GVRD sell it to
Point Roberts, USA?

Another story had another interesting fact: 46% of adults in the
Vancouver area were not born in Canada. That's twice the national
average. Toronto was #1 with 53%. I had no idea...

Doug

PS: Here's the article:

Tuesday » September 30 » 2003
Water restrictions to be lifted Wednesday
If people use water irresponsibly, ban will be reinstated: GVRD

Vancouver Sun

With water reservoirs at only 32 per cent of capacity, and the Lower
Mainland's endless summer already into autumn, the Greater Vancouver
Regional District is gambling there's rain on the horizon.

Watering restrictions that were imposed across the region at the height
of drought back in August will be lifted Wednesday.

"We've got to a point in the year when the days are getting shorter and
there's more moisture in the way of dew in the morning, which is
keeping the vegetation green," said Paul Archibald, the GVRD's water
supply manager.

"These restrictions are primarily aimed at outdoor use, and it seems
pointless to keep water restrictions in place when there is no reason
to be watering at all."

The GVRD instituted two lawn watering restrictions in August --
limiting watering to one day a week on Aug. 5, then banning it entirely
on Aug. 22.

Archibald stressed that the watering ban could come back if people
start using water irresponsibly.

"We're still going to need the public's cooperation until there's
healthy reservoir recovery in place," he said. "This isn't a time to
begin to adopt wasteful habits."

The summer water crisis was created by a combination of a very low
snowpack last winter and one of the hottest, driest summers on record
continuing into the fall.

Temperatures are expected to be a few degrees above normal for the
remainder of the week, with no sign of rain until this weekend at the
earliest.

"For the next few days, we expect the temperatures should be back to
more seasonal levels, but still slightly above normal," said Tony Ng, a
meteorologist with Environment Canada.

"Enjoy it while you can."

Statistics provided to The Vancouver Sun Monday indicate that the
region as a whole reduced its water consumption in August by 14.3 per
cent -- with every member municipality consuming less water in August
than it did in July.

But in Point Roberts, Wash. -- a community of about 5,000 residents
just south of Tsawwassen that gets its water from the GVRD --
consumption of B.C. water actually went up by 0.3 per cent.

"I phoned their water supply manager ... and let him know what
direction we were going in," said Archibald "and he said he'd put up
notices and let people know about the water shortages,".

Dan Bourks, manager for the Point Roberts water district, said he asked
residents to cut back on their water usage, but with no water
restrictions on the books he said there was little he could do .

Under its agreement with the GVRD, Point Roberts pays for a set amount
of water each year -- about 1.2 billion cubic metres -- regardless of
how much water it actually uses.

Most years, it only uses about 300,000 cubic metres -- meaning it pays
about four times as much for its water as the GVRD's member
municipalities.

Bourks said that agreement gives the town little reason to cut back.

"It's a tough spot to be in when we're essentially paying for something
we're not using. They give me no financial incentive," Bourks said. "If
they billed me for what we use, we'd have conservation efforts."

Archibald said Point Roberts' consumption made virtually no difference
to this year's water crisis in the Lower Mainland because it makes up
less than one-tenth of one per cent of the region's water usage.

While every municipality in the GVRD reduced its water consumption last
month, some did a better job than others of cutting back.

The smallest reductions were found in Vancouver (8.0 per cent) and
Coquitlam (9.2 per cent).

Coquitlam Mayor Jon Kingsbury said he was surprised by the numbers and
said the city's eight bylaw officers were quick to issue fines against
those who violated the bans.

However, Ken Wright -- Coquitlam's general manager of operations --
said there were some signs city residents weren't cutting back the way
they should.

Following the first restriction on lawn watering Aug. 5 -- from two
days a week to one day -- water consumption in the city actually went
up, he said.

"We think that was a bit strange," he said.

Susan Clift, waterworks engineer for Vancouver, said the city has more
industry than other cities and a higher share of residents living in
downtown highrises.

That means there are fewer residents in Vancouver with lawns to water,
or cars to clean, in the first place -- making it more difficult to
achieve big drops in consumption.

"We have the highest percentage of high density residential, which
would not be affected by outdoor sprinkling bans," Clift said.

However, another city with a lot of high density development -- New
Westminster -- had the second-biggest drop in consumption, at 28.3 per
cent.

The biggest reduction in water usage was in Langley Township, at 29.4
per cent.

However, Gary Venuti, utilities manager with Langley, said the reason
for that decline is that township gets about half its water from local
wells -- and only relies on GVRD water during peak periods in the
summer.

That means the reduction of water use in Langley looked more dramatic
than it really is, he said.

"When people sprinkle, it usually comes from GVRD water, so when we cut
that out it all came from the GVRD," Venuti said.

© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun

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