Water crisis hits home

By Yvette d'Entremont - The Weekly News
BEAVER BANK - Residents dealing with severe water shortages in Beaver Bank's Monarch-Rivendale subdivision have voted overwhelmingly in favour of footing the bill to bring municipal water to their neighbourhood.
The problem centres around a significant lack of water. A community survey was distributed in November to gauge the level of support for moving forward to bring municipal water services to the area. Based on the number of votes that came back last month, more than 80 per cent supported the move.
The quoted cost per resident, per lot, was initially about $20,000. That "guesstimate" has since gone down to about $17,500, with the local councillor working to further reduce that number.
"When you're talking about the kind of money we're talking about here, I wouldn't have expected such an overwhelming 'yes' vote," said Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank Coun. Barry Dalrymple.
As of two weeks ago, 160 ballots were marked in favour of moving forward compared to 32 against. Dalrymple said he finds it "disgusting" that municipal, provincial and federal governments have refused to help fund such a project.
"I know of one residence that has two-900 foot wells that have both been hydrafracted and had numerous pumps replaced and they still have less than a quarter gallon of water per minute," Dalrymple said. "They can't have more than one shower a day, and can't hook up a clothes washer or dishwasher. There are others facing similar scenarios."
Many affected residents have told Dalrymple they had no water issues two or three years ago, but now find themselves regularly going dry.
"Some are trucking in water every two to three weeks. We're not talking about these folks wanting city water, they are in desperate need of city water," he said.
Pam Clarke is one such resident. She has watched her family's dream home turn into their nightmare. The busy mother of four said when they first moved in two years ago, they used as much water as they needed to care for and clean up after their large family.
Last March, they ran out of water for the first time. Assuming it was due to over consumption, they cut back and began closely monitoring their usage. The water began disappearing two or three times per month. Now, the family must truck water in every nine or 10 days, costing them about $500 every month and a half.
They're only using about 60 gallons per day, which doesn't go far when you have a house full of sick kids and no water in your house to wash vomit from bedding in the middle of the night. She described the heat of summer and the smell wafting from the bathroom through the house as "pretty bad."
"To put it in perspective, with six people each flushing just four times per day, that's 24 flushes using about two gallons per flush and washing hands," Clarke said. "You've already used 48 gallons, and that's not doing any laundry, dishes, or showering."
Clarke said she can see five houses from her own front door, and none of them have water.
"Most people are envious when they see my house, but it's worth nothing. If you don't have water, you have nothing," she said.
Brad Conrad, president of the Monarch-Rivendale Community Association, was very pleased with the recent survey results. He has dealt with "on again, off again" water for five years, with his woes starting just seven days after he moved in.
An expert who checked his well told him the water table was disappearing at an alarming rate.
"I knew I had to get enough support to pursue this as a group, not just by myself," Conrad said. "It took time for people to admit to it because they were worried about the value of their homes and were embarrassed to talk about having no water."
If water doesn't come to his subdivision soon, Conrad predicts a mass exodus.
"People will start selling their homes in droves and people will just abandon their homes. It sounds drastic, but people can't live in them and can't survive without water," he said. "I know people who use snow to flush their toilets. They're living in $400,000 homes."
HRM staff and Halifax Water officials are currently preparing a report for Halifax Regional Council.
If the report is brought to council for first reading by Jan. 19 or 26 as Dalrymple hopes, a public hearing date would likely be set for mid-February with the idea of pushing ahead to have the project go to tender this spring.
"They want it as fast as possible," Dalrymple said.
Residents are encouraged to regularly visit the Monarch-Rivendale Community Association's web site at www.monarchrivendale.com for updates and to view all correspondence and information relating to the water issue.
"I will never look at water the same way again. I don't think my children will either," Clarke said. "My five-year-old daughter has said 'Mom, all I want is a bubble bath.'"
ydentremont@hfxnews.ca