Water Meter Grant Focus of Special Meeting
- kc dyer
- Mar 23, 2025
- 3 min read
Council will decide on near $4 million proposal Monday at noon
A $3.94 million dollar grant, which will fully cover the installation cost of water metering in the Village of Lions Bay is within reach. The grant has been offered by the province to Lions Bay, and is subject to Council formally accepting the provincial funding agreement at a special meeting on Monday.
On Friday, Director of Public Works Karl Buhr announced the awarding of the large grant from the BC Water Metering Pilot Program in the Village Update.
According to his announcement, the grant will cover all the costs of installing water meters in every home, plus 10 watermain zone meters and 11 remote-control pressure management installations. Lions Bay is one of 19 municipalities awarded the grant of the 45 applicants from around the province.
Water meters measure the volume of water that passes through a pipe or other outlet into your home. They work like a car odometer, recording the cumulative amount of water that has passed through the meter.
This grant would put Lions Bay in line with many other municipalities already undertaking the metering process around the province, but at no cost to taxpayers.
Residential water metering is already taking place in a number of municipalities . including Coquitlam and Gibsons. Richmond residents have had water meters since 2018. The Town of Merritt, having received a similar grant from the province, is in the process of installing meters in every residence.
Buhr has been doggedly pursuing this grant opportunity since the pilot project was announced in December of 2024. His report to Council can be found on page 4 of Monday's agenda package HERE.
The decision from Council will come on the first business day after International World Water Day.
"With water an increasingly valuable commodity in Lions Bay – particularly in summer – understanding where it is going is essential to ensuring we have enough of it," said Buhr in his announcement. He noted that water metering will reduce the amount of time Public Works allocates to finding and repairing leaks in both municipal and private lines.
In addressing the potential for this grant over the last months before both Council and the Climate Action Committee, Buhr has stated his belief that mandatory water metering across the province will come "sooner rather than later", and he suggests that possibility as the reason the province has allocated the $50 million for these pilot projects.
Should Council decline this grant, the cost of installing water meters would be borne by homeowners if and when metering becomes mandatory.
Buhr's report offers a number of benefits to water metering in the Village, including better leak detection especially during times of restricted supply, more accurate data for planning fire reserves and storage, better consumer feedback and awareness of consumption and more equitable billing.
"Metering is vital to conserve Lions Bay’s water for its intended purposes, especially in times of short supply."
The reason Council has chosen to meet at the unusual time of Monday noon was not offered in the Friday announcement, but a hint can be found as a part of Buhr's report.
"The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs had embargoed disclosure until public announcement, and a previous version of this report was considered by Council in Closed meeting on Mar. 18 for that purpose, with no decision reached. On Mar. 19, the Ministry waived their embargo to allow Council to consider the grant in open meeting in time for acceptance within a one-day deadline extension to noon on March 25."
For residents who want to share their opinion with Council before a decision is made, emails can be sent to reception@lionsbay.ca or pwm@lionsbay.ca
For those interested in offering comments in person or watching the decision, the zoom link for the Monday meeting can be found on the Village website, or you can click through HERE.
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