In the next few months, The City of Parksville and Regional District of Nanaimo will be wrestling with finalizing the design and financial plan for a water treatment plant to serve the city and Nanoose Bay.
Island Health has directed that these areas must be provided with fully treated surface water by Dec. 2016. The Englishman River Water Service and consultants have prepared a new design and financial plan which show ratepayers will face significant tax increases.
Since its formation in 2000, the Arrowsmith Watersheds Coalition has been active in helping to manage the watershed. The society worked on an early project to physically outline the watershed and to arouse concern about some serious problems in preserving the quality and quantity of water delivered by the river system.
It helped create the RDN's Drinking Water-Watershed Protection Program in 2008.
Along with a Q&A, two active community members, Ross Peterson and Al Pastars, will make presentations at the society's annual general meeting to help residents comprehend and consider important questions before supporting the water intake on the Englishman River and the treatment plant.
The meeting is 7 p.m., Oct. 30 at the Parksville Community Centre.
— Submitted by the AWC