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Water restriction plans precede new filtration plant

Ashcroft Council says Village will eventually need new filtration plant and will need a water conservation plan.

Dale Johnson asked Ashcroft Council why they would be considering water restrictions when the Thompson River is full of nothing but water.

“If I conserve 1,000 gallons this year, will it be there next year?” he asked at Council’s June 25 committee of the whole meeting.

“We have a river running through town,” he said, “let’s use it.”

“If we’re going to conserve water because of the costs to get that water to my property, let’s say so,” he said. “I can buy that, but I’m not just going to conserve water in order to conserve it.”

Mayor Andy Anderson replied that conversatons with Interior Health has  made it clear that “We’re getting to a point where we need to improve filtration for our drinking water.”

Turbidity in the river where the water comes from is climbing, and bacteria adheres to the turbidity.

He said a new filtration plant for Ashcroft would cost $8-$10 million. The Village would have to source provincial and federal grants in order to pay for the plant and those grants require that the municipalities have plans in place for water conservation.

“Water is the most important commodity in the world,” said Anderson. “We use way more water here than we need to to keep the lawn green. We don’t want to build a filtration plant bigger than we need.”

He said Council is still listening for feedback to their proposed restrictions, but he doesn’t think anyone will go without the water they need.