Its hard to believe that the City of Regina and the provincial government have known for about fifteen years that the Regina Water/Sewage Treatment Plant was destroying a water eco system (SP Aug. 30/11.) Harder yet is the statement that it will take several more years to fix the problem. Does Wascana Creek and the downstream lakes it effects have years left before they are declared dead?
What I don't get is the statement by Regina's branch manager for environmental engineering that "As far as our treatment facility goes, we meet and exceed our permit to operate." Does that mean the treatment standards set for cities is so low that its standards support waterway pollution?
According to a spokesperson for Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment the problem can be fixed, but it is very expensive. The City of Regina estimates the cost at $120 to $200 million dollars. What what is the cost to letting these water systems die?
This affects not only Regina residents, but all those who live downstream of Wascana. If I were one of them I'd be looking for a "now" rather than a "next year" solution.
And perhaps the message to the rest of us is to ask to have the provincial standards for water/sewer treatments plants examined and beefed up.
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It appears no one gives a damn about Regina's drinking water problems. Lets see build a new stadium or fix water problem. I vote new stadium.
ReplyDeleteThey will fix the water supply, Regina's Council is not nearly as inept as Saskatoons.
ReplyDelete"This affects not only Regina residents, but all those who live downstream of Wascana. If I were one of them I'd be looking for a 'now' rather than a 'next year' solution."
ReplyDeleteIf the water quality downstream of Regina is as bad as they say, then I would suspect that even if no water were released by the city from here on out, the impacts would likely last for at least few more decades. Therefore, I disagree that we'd be better off with a "now" solution instead of a "next year" solution.
We would be better off coming up with a viabile permanent solution, even if it takes a bit of time to figure out, rather than hastedly agree to an enormously expensive water treatment plant which might end up not substantially improving the downstream watershed.
Rather than a "now" solution, we should settle for the "right" solution.