INSIDE
Water struggles recalled

By Syd Wallace

At the Tuesday June 19 water district public hearing some spoke of requesting an increase in the limits of the present GVRD water contract. This will only be accomplished if it is shown that it is to Vancouver’s advantage to do so.

This can be done because more water would make Point Roberts an even more attractive recreation area and summer resort for the Vancouver region. This is their only low cost and easily accessible summer resort. 

In this respect it is useful to review the negotiations that led to the final water supply agreement. I was water commissioner from 1976 to 1989. In 1976 the commissioners of the Point Roberts Water District (PRWD), myself, John Baker and Marvin Woolley were faced with a decreasing supply of potable water from the district’s wells. The situation was critical. A document was prepared “Water Supply Augmentation and Growth Potential of Point Roberts, Washington,” 1978. This document outlined plans to investigate two potential sources. The first involved a water main across Boundary Bay from Blaine, the second from the Greater Vancouver Water District.

A supply agreement was negotiated with the Blaine city council and preliminary engineering was commenced.

Concurrent with this action, a public hearing was held at Point Roberts to discuss the plans. It was at that meeting that Bill Lewarne, a summer resident at Maple Beach, said that he could arrange for water from Vancouver.

At that time he was mayor of Burnaby and held the water and wastewater chair on the board of the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Lewarne acted immediately and arranged for the PRWD board chairman to meet with the director of the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD), Duncan McKay, P.Eng. At that meeting McKay instructed GVWD chief engineer A.D. Purdon to discuss with Delta engineering the delivery of water to Point Roberts through Delta. At that time the GVWD only delivered water to Delta at their Ferry Road pump station just south of the Fraser River in Ladner but did not distribute water within Delta.

Out of discussion with Delta came the proposal that the GVWD would take over the water main to the Pebble Hill reservoir and update the Ferry Road and the 25th Avenue pump stations. Point Roberts would pay for the construction of an additional 5 million gallon reservoir on Pebble Hill for the use of the GVWD and Delta. Delta would permit a 16-inch main to be built between the Pebble Hill reservoir to the US/Canadian border at Winston Road, Point Roberts.

This plan saved Delta $3 million in capital within five years and an additional $8 million after 2020 when the existing supply main to the reservoir will have to be replaced (Dayton & Knight 1982 report).
Based on this plan and estimates by Hammond, Collier and Wade for the Point Roberts engineering and construction, PRWD commissioners estimated a total construction cost of $4.5 million.

The board applied to and received from the Farm Home Administration a grant of a $1.4 million. A grant of $1.6 million was approved by the state of Washington.

The electorate approved a $1.2 million bond issue. The balanced was generated through investing idle funds. All payments related to the project were made through the PRWD office and approved at the regular monthly commissioner meeting to control costs. The project came in on time and on cost thanks to all involved on both sides of the border.

Concurrent with engineering, costing and financing; political approval was being sought. Here again Bill Lewarne with his knowledge and political acumen, was the key to getting the final approval by Premier W. Vander Zalm.

For practical reasons, Delta council’s approval was required. Early in the term of mayor Beth Johnson in her address to the council she stated, “We must approve water for Point Roberts otherwise they will get it from Blaine and we will have no control on growth at Point Roberts.”