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Columnist gets it right on U.S. water concerns

Reader respects Fletcher for pointing out politics of situation

Re: U.S. ripping us off on water, (B.C. Views, Jan. 7)

I once wrote a letter suggesting Tom Fletcher should change the name of his column, but after reading this one, I almost feel I should retract my words.

This is an issue all of B.C. should share views on and an extremely important one at that. It’s not clear if ex-premier Bill Bennett gave the 10-year notice to exit the agreement, but he certainly should have.

I don’t think we could ever actually deny the U.S. access to our water as it would ultimately lead to an invasion. We should, however, fire the warning shot that we want a fair dollar for the resource.

Having just flown back from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I saw nothing but desert out my window for almost the entire trip until we got into Washington state. Lake Mead, created by the Hoover Dam, is so low on water that the dam is almost useless and California is screaming for more to feed the crops. We pay top dollar for the produce from there and yet give them the water pretty much for free. It’s totally crazy and will only get worse.

The time to act is now. Way to go, Tom, for highlighting this ridiculous situation that I’ve ranted on about for decades to mostly deaf ears.

Matt Taylor

Saanich