Stormwater management

options are out there

Re: Election issues In Debate: More than leaky pipes and potholes (News, Nov. 12)

While we contemplate expensive upgrades to storm sewer infrastructure, it would make sense to run some downspout disconnection pilot projects, giving homeowners incentives to manage stormwater on their properties, or at least slow the flow of stormwater into aging pipes.

For those areas of Victoria currently without storm sewers, we should investigate the Seattle Public Utilities’ Natural Drainage Systems, which are 25 per cent cheaper than traditional stormwater management.

Does on-site stormwater management work? Yes. Thunder Bay’s downspout disconnection/rain barrel program targeted areas that experienced sewage-flooded basements during heavy rains, particularly older residential/commercial neighbourhoods where gutter connections to sanitary sewers (instead of storm sewers) were most common – as with many parts of Victoria.

By reducing the amount of ‘inflow and infiltration’ into sanitary sewers, the city also somewhat reduced the amount of stormwater being unnecessarily sent to the sewage treatment plant, which will also be an issue in Victoria.

City staff in Thunder Bay also identified efficiencies and savings by having the same people looking at sewage and stormwater issues. Regardless of the different jurisdictions for sewage treatment (CRD) and stormwater (municipalities) in our region, it would make sense to plan for both at the same time here as well.

This would difficult in our current system, but would become a near impossible task should sewage treatment be privatized. For more about community-based stormwater solutions, see www.urbanraincatchersgazette.ca

Freya Keddie

Victoria

Busway projects have poor record

Why are the Liberals so gung-ho for busways when they have such an abysmal track record for getting people out of their cars?

Look at two cities, Calgary and Ottawa, which took very different directions at about the same time.

Calgary built a light rail network and Ottawa installed a bus rapid transit system.

According to figures from the American Public Transit Association, between Oct. 1987 and Oct. 2004, Calgary transit ridership increased by 107 per cent. Over the same time period, ridership in Ottawa went up 15 per cent.

In the period analyzed, Calgary’s population grew roughly 20 per cent and Ottawa’s by about 13 per cent. So the national capital’s growth in transit ridership barely kept up with population.

In Cowtown, however, bus and LRT ridership has grown more than five times faster than the increase in number of people.

Rail transit supporters are forced to jump all kinds of ridiculous hoops to get any kind of funding, while blacktop projects swim in cash.

Louis Guilbault

Victoria

Drug addiction a problem of the spirit

How about the local church if Victoria needs a needle exchange service? That would be the most obvious choice if Canadians were to deal with the base of addiction instead of medicalizing spirituality.

All the so-called treatment that goes on in the case of drug addiction boils down to soul doctoring when looked at under the microscope. None of that is the business of medicine.

There have always been people who rejected the values of the mainstream. That is what the so-called drug addict is. Addiction is a chosen lifestyle, not a disease that could strike anybody at any moment. People who abstain from drug use never become addicts.

The care of everyman’s soul belongs to himself, said Thomas Jefferson. Truer words were never spoken.

Drug addiction is all about malefactors and benefactors. Those people have a way of finding each other in life without any interference from the state. In short, some people are passed out in the gutter looking to be saved and some are patrolling the gutters looking for someone to save. None of that ought to be of concern to the state. 

Repealing drug prohibition is the only way to get rid of the social construct that medicalizes drug taking. There has always been a ceremonial and ritual aspect to drug taking. It’s long past due Canadians consider the fact that we have become a therapeutic state. Seeking medical/therapeutic answers to social/moral problems has led the so-called addict to the hospital when they ought to be taken to the confession booth. 

Chris Buors

Winnipeg, Man.

P3 effect on sewage not always clear

The bubbling issue deposited on Esquimalt’s two mayoral candidates at the end of a recent all-candidates meeting asked their stance on the proposed secondary sewage treatment plants at either Macaulay Point or McLaughlin Point.

With the two of them agreeing on one point – that it was going to cost an incredible amount of money – only Barbara Desjardins appeared to support the idea of engaging private partnerships to offset the cost of such a plant.

That means privatization of our ‘water going out.’ In many similar scenarios across the border, this meant ‘water coming in’ was eventually privatized too, and to the citizens’ horror, a high tap water price was the result.

Jeopardy of our public resources are a major issue here and letting the P3 foot get in the door on sewage may not be appropriate. I would like our new council to speak loudly and clearly on which direction they want to steer us on this. It is an issue that is the tip of the iceberg – let’s not run aground on it, because we, the residents, can’t see it clearly yet.

Colin MacLock

Esquimalt

Motorcycles ignored in parking strategy

As an overseas visitor to Victoria, I am very impressed by its beauty, plus the social and environmental awareness of the population.

However, as a motorcyclist I was amazed to find a complete lack of designated central city parking for motorcycles or scooters. I found many free parking facilities for bicycles, plus lots of meter parking for a big gas guzzler or a Smart car, but nothing for motorcycles. In this day and age of environmental awareness, most western cities provide some free, designated parking spaces for motorcycles and scooters. By removing just four vehicle bays you can provide parking for up to 25 motorcycles and scooters. A great trade off for the environment and inner city congestion.

In Victoria, which relies heavily on tourism for its financial sustainability, I find the administrators are out of touch. For the benefit of local and thousands of national and international motorcyclists who visit each year, please, stop treating us like second-class citizens and provide adequate, designated parking.

Joe Barker

Victoria

Hope springs eternal in politics, too

Barak Obama will soon lead the United States, based on a message of hope after years of terrorist-generated fear.

We saw evil on Sept. 11, 2001. A few suicidal psychopaths plotted to hurt us all. They killed 3,000 people and caused $100 billion in immediate financial damage. Their goal was to incite fear and turn us on ourselves. They temporarily succeeded.

Laws were passed that extended the control of the government over peoples’ lives – under the name of Homeland Security. Armed patrol boats were placed on the Great Lakes. Open borders were constricted, sometimes so tightly as to functionally close them. The U.S. engaged in war on two countries, losing thousands of lives and amassing $10 trillion in debt without being able to withdraw. The resulting fiscal chaos now rivals the issues of the Great Depression.

Our leaders failed to see that fear is for immediate flight or fight responses – and that is all. Righteous anger and fear-based reactions are not enough.

For our own long-term well-being, we must embrace the politics of hope. Hope is the only well from which true planning and problem-solving action spring.

Eugene Parks

Victoria