Watutco Water System

Small water systems across British Columbia are facing significant infrastructure related costs largely due to the price of construction dramatically increasing over the past few years. In addition to the recent increase in construction costs,  these estimated upgrade costs also have a 30% contingency. To keep costs as low as possible, CVRD will select a contractor though an open procurement process.  Should the actual cost of construction be less than the approved budget, any cost savings will be reflected in the annual costs for the required system modifications.

A Point of Entry (POE) treatment system set up at each residence would only exempt the water supplier (CVRD) from Section 6 of the Drinking Water Protection Act (DWPA), which states that the water supplier must provide potable water to its users. However, it would still be defined as a water system for all other aspects of the Drinking Water Protection Act and the Drinking Water Protection Regulation.

Residents would not be able to complete maintenance of their water treatment system themselves; the CVRD would be required to service each of the treatment systems either located within each home via a legal access agreement (likely to be very unpopular) or a small kiosk (very expensive) located at each property line. In addition, CVRD staff would be required by Island Health to complete very expensive and operationally intensive biweekly water sampling of each residence.

For the above reasons and more, the CVRD is not willing to entertain management of this system with POE treatment.

The Black Creek Oyster Bay Water Service is significantly higher in pressure than the Watutco Water Service. Increasing the water pressure to that of the BCOB system would cause significant and expensive water main breaks and drastically reduce the service life of the Watutco Watermains.

To reduce the pressure to a level similar to what the Watutco system is currently at, a Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) is used near the connection point between both systems. To maintain the valve and prevent the valve from freezing, it would need to be housed in a similar, but smaller, kiosk than the one currently in the Oyster River Nature Park which currently houses Well #5.

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The CVRD uses Development Cost Charges (DCC’s) on development currently within the BCOB Water Local Service Area, which provides funds to help pay for expanded water infrastructure, such as the new wells and upsized watermains required to service the additional development.

Similarly, Capital Improvement Cost Charges (CICC’s) are applied on every property that joins the BCOB Water Local Service Area (usually several per year), as the additional properties put new demands on the existing service infrastructure. Funds collected are tracked and specifically used only for growth related projects. 

As Watutco residents are considered "In-Stream", they would pay the previous CICC rate of $6,058. However, should the petition fail, they would pay the recently updated rate of $10,418, the same as anyone else being added to developing in the BCOB Water Local Service Area.

More information on the recently updated DCC’s and CICC’s can be found on the links below.

• Staff Report (Nov 4, 2024) - BCOB Water Local Service Area Development Cost Charge Recommendations
• Information Sheet - Water Development Cost Charges (BCOB)

All of CVRD’s water services charge user fees and parcel taxes.

User Rates cover all operating and maintenance expenses for the service. The BCOB Water Service is metered, and a rate structure is applied based on volume to promote water conservation where greater consumption results in a larger water bill.

Parcel Taxes cover all asset replacement costs including debt servicing costs for any required borrowing. In addition, a significant percentage of the population are on fixed income. By charging the cost of infrastructure renewal as a parcel tax, those who meet the Province’s requirements are eligible for tax deferral. More information on the program and eligibility can be found here: Property Tax Deferment Program

Joining the BCOB Water Service will require a relatively simple watermain connection with two pressure-reducing valves, but staying on the Watutco System will require significant water treatment upgrades. For either option, homeowners will be required to pay their share of any outstanding costs of the system modifications. The following tables show the cost comparison for each option both in total estimated cost and cost per connection impact for single detached dwellings.

The CVRD has already committed $451,000 in federal grant funding to reduce the financial burden of connection on Watutco residents, but this funding is not available should Watutco residents decide to remain on a private system.

With respect to Capital Improvement Cost Charges (CICCs), the CVRD considers Watutco residents “in-stream” and not subject to the recent rate increases; however, should this petition fail, these rates will increase significantly for any future attempts to join the service should the status-quo option not prove viable.

Please review Tables 1 and 2 above which detail the cost comparisons between both options.

In order for the CVRD to extend the boundaries of BCOB Water System and borrow the necessary funding for the system modifications, two petition forms will be prepared and distributed by the CVRD. Each petition must be signed by the majority of property owners for each land parcel indicating their support for the proposal.

For the petitions to be successful, the owners of at least 50 per cent of the properties must consent and those properties must represent at least 50 per cent of the net taxable value in the Watutco area.

Petitions that are not returned will be counted in the negative. It is important to note that: 

• For the CVRD to proceed with joining Watutco with the BCOB Water System, both petitions (service boundary extension and borrowing) will require approval.
• The borrowing, taxes and user charges will apply to all properties in the service area and not just the property owners who voted yes by completing and returning the petitions.

• Only registered owners of property within the proposed service area may sign the petitions.
• For properties owned by multiple owners, the majority of owners must sign the petitions to be valid.
• For a property with two owners, both owners must sign the petitions.

For clarity, the owners of the individual manufactured homes within the Saratoga Beach Mobile Home Park are NOT eligible to sign the petitions as they are not owners of a parcel according to provincial legislation.

Saratoga Mobile Home Park will pay the above costs for each of the 42 mobile homes brought into the BCOB Water System with the exception of the parcel tax which is only applied per parcel.

While Pacific Playgrounds has opted to go it alone, if they had chosen to join the BCOB Water Service, it would have resulted in slightly less (~3%) costs to residents. This is due to the vast majority of costs being the Capital Improvement Cost Charge which is charged for each dwelling unit being added to the service rather than shared connection infrastructure costs.

The Drinking Water Treatment Objectives (Microbiological) for Surface Water Supplies in British Columbia outlines the drinking water treatment requirements necessary for surface water supplies, such as Watutco. The Watutco system is currently not in compliance with the drinking water treatment objectives. Compliance is expensive and mandatory.

Two options exist for the Watutco system to become compliant:

1. The Watutco water system remains a private water system and completes the necessary water treatment upgrades to become compliant. 
2. The Watutco water system joins the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) Black Creek-Oyster Bay (BCOB) water local service area, which is already compliant. System modifications will still be required for the connection of the two water systems. 

Reminder: this information is from 2019/2020 and is not reflective of the current situation

Each of the two options have cost impacts to Watutco residents. Costs are still estimates at this time and the actual project costs will not be known until construction is complete. For either option homeowners will be required to pay their share of any outstanding costs of the system modifications and water meter installations.

For the CVRD option, assent from Watutco property owners is necessary and the CVRD Board has committed to allocate $451,000 of community work grant funds for the system modification costs to significantly reduce the cost burden on residents.

• March 2020: Staff report on CVRD Connection Cost Options 
• November 2019: Staff report to the Black Creek- Oyster Bay Services Committee
• July 2019: Staff report to the Electoral Area Services Committee
• July 2019: Open house information boards
• May 2019: Staff report to the Black Creek- Oyster Bay Services Committee