Point Roberts water district commissioners have approved a contract to provide irrigation water with the new owners of the golf course that leaves the door open to price negotiations.
Under the contract, the district agrees to sell the golf course a maximum of 500 gallons per minute and a daily maximum of 400,000 gallons of water for irrigation use only. “It just gravity fe eds to them,” said district manager Dan Bourks at the June 12 district commissioner meeting. He said the water is drawn and is untested and untreated and is not considered potable water.
The contract allows for the supply of irrigation water to be interrupted in case of an emergent need or to meet the demand for potable water on the Point. “We’re only selling water above the domestic water demand,” Bourks said. “This is water we pay for and aren’t selling so it makes sense.”
The district is required under its contract with the Greater Vancouver Water District to buy 840,000 gallons per day. In 2017, the district paid approximately $550,000 for water and used about a third of the amount purchased, Bourks said.
The golf course contract sets the current price the golf course pays for water at $5.50 per hundred cubic feet, and a base charge of $1,482.15 base charge on a bimonthly basis. “It equates to about $2,300 a day when they’re taking water,” Bourks said. Depending on the weather, the golf course irrigation water bill has been up to $80,000 per year in the past.
“They still want us to look at the rate,” Bourks said. The contract provides for the rate to be adjusted by the district based on the results of the cost of service study being prepared by the district’s rate consultant.
The previous golf course owner cited the high cost of irrigating the course as one of the reasons it had become unfeasible to keep it in operation.
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