It makes so much sense it’s hard to believe it hadn’t been approved before.
Officials from the Town of Okotoks were at the ABMunis convention in Calgary last week, the annual gathering where municipal politicians have the opportunity to put forward resolutions they believe could benefit the greater good. Okotoks offered up two such suggestions, including one that would see stormwater not just disappear down the proverbial drain.
The resolution, which was supported by 86 per cent of ABMunis members, calls for the provincial government to allow stormwater to be used for the irrigation of public and private landscaping, sports fields and to control road dust, among other purposes.
Rather than wasting the resource, it makes abundant sense to use stormwater where it’s appropriate and, conversely, it makes little sense to use treated drinking water to keep grass and plants green when there’s a viable alternative. Not sure it makes a lot of sense to use potable water to keep residential lawns green during the summer either, but that’s a debate for another day.
We’re already seeing examples of this kind of repurposing with splash parks recycling their water streams and home gardeners making use of rain barrels to irrigate their back yard plots, showing that it’s a win for the environment and the pocketbook when the resource can be utilized in a variety of ways.
Water infrastructure is prohibitively expensive, as evidenced by the $30-million-plus regional water project that’s now moving forward, so any efforts to stretch the resource and avoid incurring additional costs should be seriously considered. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend money to purify water only to use it on a soccer field or a thirsty plant, neither of which are likely to complain if stormwater is substituted instead.
This area knows better than most that water is a precious resource, so any measure that utilizes it to the fullest is one that should be wholeheartedly embraced.
