Only 65 electors filed valid forms opposing borrowing the funds to buy 1,973 hectares of land next to the Sooke Lake Reservoir catchment area and Sooke Lake Watershed.
The Capital Regional District is moving forward with a $32.3-million purchase of lands near the Sooke Lake Reservoir to help protect Greater Victoria’s water supply.
CRD directors unanimously adopted a borrowing bylaw to fund the purchase of 1,973 hectares of land next to the Sooke Lake Reservoir catchment area and Sooke Lake Watershed, the primary water supply for Greater Victoria.
The agreement to buy the land from the Kapoor Lumber Company, founded by Punjabi immigrants in 1920, was made public in January, but the CRD had to start an alternative approval process to get support from electors to borrow the money.
Only 65 electors filed valid forms opposing the borrowing. For the initiative to fail, at least 10% of electors — 31,512 residents — had to file forms opposing the move.
The regional district says the lands are crucial for safeguarding the region’s water supply and water transmission infrastructure.
Water commission vice-chair Karen Harper said the purchase is needed regardless of whether water use continues to rise in the region. “Growth or no growth, this is something that we need to do.”
CRD director Colin Plant acknowledged that $32.3 million is “a lot of money,” but added: “I think we all understand the importance of water, and that without water, we truly would be unable to exist.”
The regional district said the land purchase secures control of the primary access route to Greater Victoria’s principal water supply reservoir as well as land that would be needed for future water supply infrastructure.
The purchase means that the Kapoor Tunnel, an 8.8-kilometre concrete water transport line that carries water from the Sooke Lake Reservoir Dam to the water disinfection facility at Japan Gulch, is now wholly owned by the CRD.
The CRD says the purchase will also reduce the risk of trespassing, human-caused contamination and wildfire.
The impact on water rates is expected to be $0.06 cents per cubic metre, or about $14 per year for the average household.
Kapoor Lumber Company will be able to continue with some logging in the parcel until September, when the CRD assumes ownership.
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