Water rebates only available in rural areas

Gallagher’s Canyon, Hall Road, Crawford Estates homes serviced by 1 potable water line

Homeowners in urbanized areas of Southeast Kelowna are not eligible for the $500 credit on their utility bills being offered by the city.

The incentive is being offered only to owners of properties who do have the option of connecting to non-potable water for their irrigation needs.

In essence, people who live in the Gallagher’s Canyon, Hall Road, and Crawford Estates neighbourhoods cannot get the rebate. That’s because their properties are only serviced by one water line, carrying potable water for domestic uses like drinking, cooking, and sanitation.

“These residential areas do not have access to non-potable water,” Kevin Van Vliet, the city’s utility services manager, said Tuesday. “It would have been too costly and not necessary for the city to put in non-potable water lines in these neighbourhoods.”

Non-potable water lines are being run through farming areas in Southeast Kelowna. This way, farmers can use water that’s of a lesser quality, and less expensive, to irrigate their crops. Residents of these areas also have access to potable lines for domestic uses.

There are about 190 additional properties, of between a half-acre and two acres in size, that didn’t previously have non-potable water available to them. But they now do, with the city’s takeover of the Southeast Kelowna Irrigation District. .

The owners of these properties have all been contacted by the city, and are being encouraged to convert their irrigation systems to the nonpotable line. About 130 property owners have so far agreed.

The $500 rebate on utility bills is being offered to these property owners as an incentive for them to hook their irrigation systems to the nonpotable lines. Despite the incentive, some have not yet agreed to the conversion because they will still face considerable costs for the connecting waterworks on their own property.

The $500 incentive program was to have expired on July 1, but city council agreed Monday to extend the eligibility period until October 1.

Currently, the city charges Southeast Kelowna customers the same rate for non-potable and potable water. That equivalence has also dampened the motivation for some property owners to convert irrigation lines to the non-potable line.

Next year, a new rate system takes effect which will see a significant difference in charges for potable and non-potable water. The city expects the rate differential will convince those people that have the option to convert their irrigation systems to the non-potable line to do so.

Since overall demand on the potable water system in Southeast Kelowna is currently higher than expected because of the tardy conversions of some irrigation systems to the non-potable lines, the city has implemented a once-a-week restriction for all outdoor watering across the service area. Hand watering using a springloaded nozzle can be done anytime.

If the restriction was not implemented, the city says, water for domestic use and firefighting might have been in short supply this summer in Southeast Kelowna.

The restriction has angered some people in urbanized areas like Gallagher’s Canyon and Crawford Estates, who say their expensive landscaping is at risk for lack of water. At Monday’s meeting, council heard a shift to allowing twicea-week outdoor watering would be made soon.