Sunday, February 14, 1993 - North Shore News - 3 @ 8 ISIS Committee recommends early conservation measures to avoid repeat of 1992 shortages JUDGING BY recent snow pack measurements, North Shore lawns may be going brown earlicr than they did last year. By Cheryl Ziola Contributing Writer And the grass won't be any greener in other Lower Mainland municipalities if the Greater Van- couver Regional District Board approves its water committee's recommendations for a_ region- wide water shortage response plan beginning as early as April 1. At: Thursday’s GVRD_ water committee meeting, cormmittee members recommended that the public start conserving water early to avert the 1992 water shortage crisis that resulted in a‘total lawn sprinkling ban from June to September. The recommendation follows recent measurements. that show North Shore mountain snowpacks currently at two-thirds the average level for this time of year. In addition, the committee was told that Lower Mainland water demands are increasing as a result of waste and population surges. “We're using more and more gailons per person per day. The perception is we have an unlimited supply. We're actually abusing the resource. We're wasting it,’’ she ‘said, Instead of the GVRD’s relying on“voluntary municipal coopera- ‘tion in’ any water shortage tesponse plan, committee members are recommending that all GVRD member municipalities approve a uniform ‘outdoor sprinkling bylaw that would pack equal restrictions and penalties. The committee’s recommenda- NEWS photo Terry Psters WATER SURGES through the Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver. GVAD water committee chairman Betty Toporowski says that water waste is probably the biggest factor after snowpack levels in contributing to concerns about local water shortages. tions will be presented to the GVRD board for approval on Friday. Feb, 26. A GYRD staff report circulated at Thursday's meeting stated that the recent snowfall in the Lower Mainland area did not benefit the watersheds, ; Tom Heath, GVRD planning administrator, pointed out that local water storage capacities are too small, allowing most of the excess water to spill out of North Shore reservoirs dur- ing spring rains and snow melts. water N Shore pair charged in SRIC tax fraud case By Brent Mudry Contributing Writer _- _FLY ASH, bio-waste and tar. sands are the key elements ina “$40 million tax fraud trial that opened © this: week conver. . » "Two North Shore residents are among the four defendants “in the B.C. Supreme Court fase. Another has eluded arrest so far. . Lawyer. Roger “Lawrence of West Vancouver and accoun- : tant Michael Richards of North ‘Vancouver. are charged with : ight counts of fraud. ' * ' A Canada-wide arrest war- rant. is in effect for former “West. Vancouver resident Michael L. Yaz, but he is believed to have fled the coun- try. . . Special ‘Crown prosecutor Leslie Mackoff alleges the pair, along with co-defendants Ronald. Johnson of Richmond -and Gerald Byerlay of “Chilliwack, executed a series of schemes from 1984 into early 1985. that involved elaborate .,, abuses of the short-lived fed- in Van- . eral Scientific Research Tax Credit (SRTC) program. The program, which was designed to fuel © scientific research, allowed companies to certify investments in new technology to be eligible. for generous tax credits. The cred- its could then be sold for cash to outside investors. No external review of cligi- bility or’ merit was necessary until it was too late. In the case before the courts, | the Crown contends that dummy invoices were made out for over three times the actual value of the equipment | pur- chased, resulting in’ far less money being spent. than was claimed. Mackoff contends the research commitment was never fulfilled. In opening day evidence on Wednesday, key Crown witness James Breitzman related how his company supplied $250,000 U.S. worth of equipment to the accused but was never paid. A’ nine-woman, three-man jury has been selected to hear the trial, which is scheduled to run for four months. re index @8 Gary Bannerman .. Hi Business. ........ Bi Cocktails & Caviar MA Comics .......... ‘WFashion.......0..6....98 a) Horoscopes... . & Bob Hunter ... @® Lifestyles....... Wi Travel......... What's Going On = Weather: Monday and Tuesday, sunny. Highs 10°C. | Canadian Publications Mall Sales Product Agreement Number 0087238 Both the Capilano and Seymour watersheds can store about 40,000 acre-feet, or roughly 10% of the average precipitation inflow; the Coquitlam watershed stores about 196,000 acre-feet or around 40% of the inflew, Heath said. But the Coquitlam watershed, owned by BC Hydro, is used primarily to generate power. Only about 10,000 to 20,000 acre-feet of Coquitlam water is sold to the GVRD for public water consuntp- tion. (An acre-foot equals the amount of water needed to cover an acre to a depth of one foot.) Although the GVRD has a long-term plan io purchase the Coquitlam watershed and install a system of piping to transfer water from the Coquitlam reservoir to the other watersheds by 1997, committee members agreed , that an interim water shortage plan must be impiemented. A GYRD. staff report listed the’ response plan in four stages: © Stage 1:. Would begin April 1 as an educational and advisory media blitz featuring water con- servation tips, such as not letting water run unnecessarily during tecth-brushing or shaving; would also recommend lawn sprinkling be confined to once per week. Lawn sprinkling accounts for 30% to 40% of water demands in summer, © Stage 2: Would go into effect in the last weekend in May if Stage 1! does not head off water shortages. Involves a twice weekly sprinkling restriction that would operate on an even-odd numbered address basis. Estimated water savings would be about 10%. Anyone not complying would. receive two warning letters before getting a fine or a cut in water service. : ® Siage 3: Would restrict sprinkl- ing to once per week with no weekend sprinkling. Estimated _ water savings would range be- tween 15% and 25%. ~ : @ Stage 4: A total GVRD-wide sprinkling ban. Estimated water savings would be over 30%. Some sprinkling exemptions for golf courses, parks and new land- scuping would be allowed. But the report to the GVRD also stated that, regardless of the current stiowpack situation, there’s no need to panic yet, The watersheds could . still receive more snowfall or spring tains that would reluce the need for drastic conservation. But the GVRD plans to monitor the situation closely each month, and keep the public informed. However, Mayor. Toporowski told the North Shore News -fol- lowing the meeting she hopes that the water shortage response plan becomes a yearly guideline. “We have to: make people aware that conzervation is poing to become a reality,"’ she said. Heaith care changing with times Victoria to push for more community- -based services _ CRITICS OF the provincial plan to decentralize the $6 billion health-care delivery system charge that the reform will increase taxes in some communities -and result-in the off-loading of costs ‘onto regional govern- ments. By Michael Becker News Reporter And even though federal trans- fer payments are drying up, B.C. Health Minister Elizabeth Cull maintszins that health funding levels will continue to account for about a third of the provincial budget. The province now of health-care costs; 2000, B.C. will be 100% of the bill. -But in a meeting with North Shore News reporters on Wednes- day, Cull said the shift of focus to a less hospital-based health-care’ service is not motivated by purely covers 70% by the year picking up. budgetary needs. Said Cull, ‘‘We have to be able to meet changing needs. mo “Medicare came in 25 years ago,and what it was designed .to do was to enable you to see,a doctor or go to the hospital without having to sell the family farm to pay the bill. Today we need more than doctors and hos- pitals. “We want to see other practi- tidners like physiotherapists, massage therapists; we want our parents to be able to have support . workers come to their homes and help them manage as they get older; we want head injury pro- grams, the list goes on, NEWS photo Nell iucenta B.C. HEALTH Minister Elizabeth Cull... heaith funding levels will: . continue to account for about a third of the provincial budget. . “If we are able to meet the changing needs of our scciety and keep that core there for medicare, we’re going to have to change the way we’re doing business,’’ she added. ‘As envisioned by her ministry, changing the way B.C.’s heaith- care business operates entails tak- ing to heart many of the recom- mendations outlined in the 1991 Royal Commission. on Health Care and Costs. The ministry calls for: @ more community-based ex- tended-care beds to. take pressure off expensive acute-care beds in hospitals; @ community. health councils: some members would be pointed; others would be elected; @ regional health boards; @ a provincial health council to promote healthy living; the ap-- -® community health centres. for one-stcp health-related services; @ an expanded role for the pro-. vincial health officer, - |. 7 But Liberal Opposition health critic Linda Reid recently said the government is already’ moving away from institutional care to community-based care without having sufficient resources: at the community level. On the mental health front, for. example, the government has been taken to task for downsizing Riverview faster than surrounding communities are able to handle™ the de-institutionalized mentally ill. Said Cull, “‘...in the past what ‘has happened is that ‘with: the good intention to move people in- | to the community, the. services” haven’t been provided. : See Health-care page 5.