Reasonswhyweneed toconservewater

Editor:

Re: Water conservation is not necessary (Optimist, letters, Aug. 3) Barrie McDonald, referring to Lower Mainland lakes, writes, “There is so much under-utilized fresh water in the Lower Mainland it should be free.”

I couldn’t disagree more Just because it isn’t pouring out of our own taps doesn’t mean it’s “underutilized.”

Here are three reasons to conserve water

Salmon and more: Salmon in the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam rivers struggle to survive in water that is shallow, warm and poorly-oxygenated. Why so? Not only because of drought, but also because we humans need to siphon off water for our own use

The more we use, the less that’s available to sustain not only salmon, but also the North Shore forests that we depend on to capture and store precipitation for our water supply.

Those mountain lakes aren’t just sitting there; those mountain streams aren’t just flowing uselessly to the sea. They’re hydrating the entire ecosystem around them, that in turn sustains us

Taxes: It’s far cheaper to conserve water than to build the massive dams, water treatment plants and pipes necessary to store and transport additional supplies for our use.

The more wisely and sparingly we use water, the lower our utility tax burden will be

Climate change: Imagine the increased greenhouse gas emissions associated with installing and operating the new dams, water treatment plants and water supply lines necessary to get more water to us.

Every time we use more concrete, metal, plastic and fuel to build more infrastructure, we stoke the climate fire that’s causing the very problem we’re trying to address It’s a classic climate feedback loop.

Deborah Jones

Nice to see the Ladner sign decorated

Editor:

I’m writing to give a shout-out to the person who decorated the Ladner sign on Ladner Trunk Road with decorations for the upcoming ‘Pet Expo’ .

I’ve always enjoyed driving into West Ladner along Ladner Trunk Road and seeing the Ladner sign decorated for various things I haven’t seen it decorated for the Pet Expo before.

Keep up the great work.

With all of the bad things happening in the world and locally these days that are beyond our personal control, it’s really nice to see the sign decorated.

Lea Bianchin