The North Salt Spring Waterworks District is hoping to eliminate confusion through an update of its hook-up moratorium policy.
District manager Ron Stepaniuk explained that the wording of the previous policy made it sound like “a waiting list” could exist, which made people erroneously believe they might receive NSSWD service at some point in the future by being on a waiting list. No such list exists under the moratorium.
“It is simply a matter of clarification,” Stepaniuk said about the policy update.
All property owners who currently pay a NSSWD parcel tax on bare land still have the right to a water hook-up for a single residence or commercial unit.
“There are no changes relating to the criteria on which a connection will be approved, but the new policy explicitly states that properties not on the parcel tax roll will not be approved for a connection,” added NSSWD environmental manager Meghan McKee. “There was also some additional explanation added to the background section about the reason for allowing each property on the parcel tax roll to have one 3/4-inch connection.”
NSSWD trustees passed the amendment at their July 26 public meeting.
The policy and its rationale is on the NSSWD website.
Lake levels
Despite Salt Spring Island receiving ample rainfall in June, St. Mary and Maxwell lake levels are dropping rapidly, reported McKee.
As of July 25, Maxwell Lake was just below the 2009 level but still above the 2015 level, which was the lowest since levels have been recorded in detail.
“We’re not in great shape,” said McKee.
“We may be going to Level 4 [restrictions] this year,” she said.
The district is currently at Level 3 restrictions.
For more on this story, see the August 1, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.