I do not see the logic in Ken Crutchfield's letter (Gazette, Jan. 24) and his assertion that the Jensen Lake will have any effect on our drinking water rates.
When it is built Jensen Lake is to be a private lake to be fully maintained and operated by a homeowners' association and this includes paying for the water for it, as stated in bylaw 2/2014 May 5 2014, the city is not responsible for the private lake. I am actually glad St. Albert, (as just about every other city in Canada does with their water supplier) has negotiated a long-term contract for the city taking a specific volume of water. This guarantees EPCOR will produce a specific amount of water for delivery to St. Albert at a long-term, stable price and EPCOR will in turn invest the money we pay them into the infrastructure to reliably and safely produce and deliver that drinking water to St. Albert.
St. Albert enjoys some of the lowest water rates in Canada, paying only a $1.67 per cubic meter (1,000 litres). The average person may drink only 5 to 7 litres of water a day. The other 195 litres per day (of the 200 litres per day per person target for 2020) already goes down the drain as waste water from our showers, toilets, clothes or dish washers, etc. The current way we use our “drinking” water is already far more wasteful and has a far greater impact on the rates we pay than any impact from the future Jensen Lake.
Mike Killick, St. Albert
