So it turns out there is a potential downside to buying that low flush toilet and letting your lawns fade to brown in the summer. The CRD water supply system in Victoria, BC is undergoing a budget shortfall this year as city water users have embraced water conservation. Yes, it's true - it appears that Victoria is just saving too much water! Victoria has actually been decreasing their water usage since 1998, even in light of significant population growth. Does this mean the message is getting across and people are really starting to embrace water awareness? I, for one, can only hope so! In one of the hotter, drier summers on record the water usage was actually below average. Only in June with the city under an all-time record breaking heat wave did it exceed the average water usage by 1.7%! Only 1.7%!
Victoria has instituted a number of the steps that we generally think are the "right things to do" such as requiring low flush toilets for new construction, water restrictions in the summer, promoting other water-saving appliances and lifestyles. While on the surface this unfortunately means likely modest rate increases for water usage, I find it hard to complain on this subject. We city water users already enjoy rates that are far less than what is reflective of the true price of delivering safe, reliable water to a municipality. This will come to bear when the true extent of the infrastructure upgrades that will be required are realized - so modest increases now are only a trend in the right direction.
So go on, keep those sprinklers to a minimum and keep using those low-flow showerheads. And enjoy the signs that the message is getting out there!
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