The temporary supportive housing complex at 154 Kings Lane will continue to receive water service from the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) for at least another month.
Trustees voted at their March 23 meeting to approve an extension until April 30, with further extensions being considered on a month-to-month basis, depending on district lake levels. Without access to NSSWD water service, BC Housing estimates trucking water in from off-island once a week would cost an estimated $8,000 per month. BC Housing development manager Kirsten Baille told the NSSWD in a letter that ideally they would like approval for potable water access until April of 2024.
BC Housing stated at a March 8 online info session about its proposed Drake Road supportive housing complex that 15 individuals were living at the site. That number was later clarified by BC Housing to be nine.
In other NSSWD news, operations manager Vaughn Figueira reported that water levels at St. Mary and Maxwell lakes are higher than they were at this time last year.
He said Environment Canada’s outlook is “for lower than normal temperatures in March, April and May, which is good in a way because it means evapotranspiration is going to be less. It’s going to mean that people are using less water to water their landscaping and whatnot. In terms of precipitation, though, Environment Canada is not predicting one way or the other. It’s equal probabilities for above, average or less than normal precipitation.”
The district will go to Stage 1 watering restrictions as of April 1 as normal, Figueira said.