The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) board of directors has identified a leadership role in developing a regional solution to water governance and management as its top priority for the 2015-2018 electoral term.
Provincial health requirements for water treatment, including filtration, plus aging infrastructure, population growth and the effects of climate change pushed water to the top of the priority list at the board’s two day strategic planning session, held June 16 and 17.
“We will be planning for a forum this fall with all stakeholders involved in the governance of water supply and distribution of the existing government-operated water systems in the Comox Valley,” said Bruce Jolliffe, CVRD board chair.
The most recent survey of Comox Valley residents, conducted for the CVRD by Ipsos-Reid in May, showed that water supply and infrastructure were the areas people wanted the CVRD directors to focus on in the short and medium term.
Other priorities identified by the board for attention in the 2015-2018 electoral term of office were sewer, homelessness and flood management.
The strategic planning session included CVRD board members (or alternates) and senior staff, and was facilitated by Dr. Gordon McIntosh, president of the Local Government Leadership Institute.
The Comox Valley Regional District is a federation of three electoral areas and three municipalities providing sustainable services for residents and visitors to the area. The members of the regional district work collaboratively on services for the benefit of the diverse urban and rural areas of the Comox Valley.