Letters: Water Frustrations

It is a shame that in this day and age when everyone is so wrapped up in all their own things that no one is watching what the people in charge are
doing. And those that are watching and are aware are unable to do anything. Are we so complacent by nature or are we just not concerned with what others are doing on our behalf because we cannot do anything? Or are we just too busy to do something about it?

I have been a resident of Rutland for nearly 20 years and I receive my water from Black Mountain Irrigation. I find it difficult to imagine that in this autonimous arrangement we have never had the freedom to vote. It is not because I am a woman, nor that I am a minority rather it is because I own less than .5 of an acre. I have no right to vote. I can always complain but my concerns always fall on deaf ears. Each year my rates increase without good reason. And each year I see advertisment for their annual general meeting, but I cannot attend because I cannot vote.

Last summer we suffered a severe drought through the Okanagan Valley and with a water shortage in sight we the household water users were the ones who turned off the taps and tried to focus on water saving measures, not the farmers who in fact use most of the water and waste it to no ends. While our lawns were brown most farmers were watering their orchards and fields every hour of every day. These same farmers are the ones who are allowed to vote and vote they do. There rates are so antiquated that I wonder if it should not be a crime. They use most the water and pay the least. How could this have happened? How can this be changed? Again I ask are we just complacent or do we just not care?

-H.D.S.