Dear editor,
Who were the idiots that thought it was okay to log in a watershed?
It used to be that watersheds were sacrosanct and off limits to everyone and everything (you used to have to have a permit and a health certificate to even enter a watershed) because the forest floor acts like a huge sponge that holds the rainwater and slowly releases it, while acting like a filter as the rainwater runs slowly through it, downhill, into the reservoir.
Logged off areas no longer absorb and filter water, they contaminate it with surface dirt and debris and we are seeing the results.
Having logged in our watershed means that the turbidity will go up every time it rains from now on until there is a new forest growing in the logged off areas and who knows how many years that will take.
The expense of boiling and or buying water is a considerable burden not only to businesses, but also to seniors, and others on limited incomes and on top of that, for the disabled, the extra work can be overwhelming.
We thought that in the case of a major quake or other disaster, 72 hours might not be long enough for water but never expected to use up our whole month’s supply of water that we had put aside in our survival kit because of heavy rains.
We are in a coastal temperate rainforest; it rains here, a lot, mostly in winter.
When will people in authority learn that there are consequences to their decisions and sadly, all too often, those who are least able to endure those consequences are burdened with them?
Loraine Hudelson
Courtenay