The Cost of Water

Several weeks ago, I read a book entitled “The Big Thirst” written by Charles Fishman. The Big Thirst is a fascinating read and brilliantly explores our strange and complex relationship with water.

Fishman contends that, for the past 100 years, the western world has been living in a kind of aquatic paradise: Our water has been safe, abundant and inexpensive; a golden age of water if you will, where we could use as much as we wanted, whenever we wanted, at a relatively inexpensive cost. In the book, Fishman describes what happened in Australia where, during the past 5 years, Australia nearly ran out of water. Fishman contends that, “we have more than enough water. We just don’t think about it, or use it, smartly.”

Until fairly recently, water has not been a ‘hot button’ issue in Abbotsford, nor was there any real incentive to pay attention to how much water we used. During the last year, the City’s water conservation efforts have resulted in gains being made in the residential sector. However, the commercial and industrial sectors have been largely ignored. Having been in business for 40 years, I believe that a business can quickly figure out a way to save water/money, if there is an incentive to do so. The water conservation gains made in the residential sector could then be reflected in the business sector.

We have seen unprecedented growth in Abbotsford during the last decade, and collected significant Development Cost Charges (DCC’s) for water. Yet we do not seem to have sufficient funds to expand our infrastructure to service the growth. This invites the question; “Why not?” Have we been charging enough to sustain our water system?

Secondly, we may need to ask, “Has the time come to examine a tiered water pricing structure?” Not just that we pay more if we use more, but if we exceed the basic level of water consumption, the price per Cubic Meter (m3) of water increases as well. Clearly, larger quantities of water require more infrastructure and energy to deliver. To be effective, pricing has to reflect our need to significantly reduce water consumption. The alternative is incurring the cost (and increased taxes or fees) of large water supply infrastructure projects

I have learned from City staff during my attendance at the first two Stave Lake Open Houses that the residential water consumption rates are higher for residents than for Institutional, Commercial, Industrial and Farm Users (ICI). Secondly, while increased residential usage attracts a higher charge per m3, it decreases for ICI water users. Residents pay $1.13/m3 for the first 60/m3, $1.43 for the next 30/m3 and $2.26/m3 above 90 m3. The rate for ICI users is $0.92/m3 for the first 10,000/m3, $0.85/m3 for consumption between 10,000 – 100,000/m3 and $0.69/m3 above 100,000/m3. Since residents consume approximately 60% of our total yearly water usage, I think that the pricing structure needs to be re-examined.

I would be interested in hearing your views?