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Water is too precious to waste

What is the City of Nanaimo planning to do, not only to save water, but to lead by example?

To the Editor,

Re: Drought pushes water conservation, June 11.

Last month, the City of Nanaimo increased water conservation regulations to Level 2, our new no-snow-melt-and-hot-summer reality.

That being the case for Nanaimo residents, I trust Mayor Bill McKay’s ill-advised plan to dump 360,000 litres of purified water down one of our sloping streets has been abandoned. However, our mayor’s slide proposal, a slippery slope if there ever was one, has raised other water use questions.

In these thirsty times, the regulations to date only apply to individual residents. What is the City of Nanaimo planning to do, not only to save water, but to lead by example? Is it sensible to keep watering that huge lawn in front of City Hall, as well as those expansive lawns kept ever so green around other city properties like the police station?

As for commercial users of water, are there to be no regulations of water use for them whatsoever? How many hundreds of gallons of purified water per player are required to entertain the relatively few Nanaimo residents who enjoy swinging sticks at a little white ball trying to knock it into a hole in a manicured lawn?

Every summer my lawn turns golden brown. Then it happily becomes green again when the fall rains come. Nature seems to love varieties of colours. Perhaps that’s a counsel we need to follow.

Edwin TurnerNanaimo

 

To the Editor,

Re: Water restrictions could be more fair, Letters, June 16.

In a recent letter to the editor, a homeowner felt discriminated against due to the Level 2 water restrictions. These are necessary due to extreme conditions. Fortunately, all residents, whether they own a house or rent an apartment, can still water flowers and shrubs planted in the ground or containers.

Heck, at Level 2 you can still water your lawn twice a week. However, if not watered the grass will go dormant (yellow) during the summer and then turn green again when the rains return. So, no plants or shrubs will die under these restrictions.

Rhonda IrvingNanaimo