wellAn Abbotsford family of 7 have had to leave their home because they no longer have running water, and they’re upset with the city’s response. Leah Pickett put up a lengthy post on Facebook last night, that has gotten a lot of attention. She claims they were told that the city was tapping into an underground aquifer but that their well wouldn’t be affected. Except that well has now run dry. Pickett says when they contacted the city about it on October 6th, an engineer responded by saying they could hook up to the city water system, but they’d have to put up close to $14,000 before any work would begin. She says the response since then has been lackluster.

“The city told someone this morning that they had sent someone by our home, but we’re not living in our home because it has no water.  We’re not there for them to have tried to talk to us this morning.  They have not tried to call, or email, or respond to us on Facebook directly.  The Mayor of Abbotsford said he saw our post and was having senior staff look into it, but we haven’t directly heard from anybody else as a result of that yet.”

The city’s GM of Engineering Peter Sparanese contacted us this afternoon, and says they’re willing to work with the family, but is adamant that they had nothing to do with the well drying up.

“The wells that we have, they’re approximately 2.2kms east of the site and they’re approximately 39m in depth, so there’s a significant difference there, and there is no factual information there to indicate that we’ve had any adverse affect on their well.”

He says it was already a shallow well, and thinks the drought conditions over the summer may have dried it up.  He also says the city has a bylaw that states the costs of hooking up to the municipal water system.

In the meantime, Pickett says the support they’ve received since the Facebook post went up has been overwhelming.
In fact, a civics construction company has already stepped up and offered to do the work pro-bono, but is waiting to hear from the city to see if that’s OK.  People have also been sending letters and offering to bring them meals.

She says she can’t raise 5 kids in a home with no water, and is hoping there is a resolution soon, because they’ve been staying in Saskatchewan since this all came up, as someone there was able to take them in.

“Who can take in a family of 7? I don’t think anyone has a couch that large.”

Sparanese says they feel for the family, and are also hoping to help them accomplish what they’re after.

 

Here is Leah Pickett’s original Facebook post:

My husband and I, along with our 5 children, live in a character home in Abbotsford (Clearbrook Road area) that we have owned for eight years. We bought the house, operating on well water and were told it has never run dry, in over 85 years. Over the last few years, the City of Abbotsford – City Hall, has sent us multiple letters claiming that they, “are tapping into the underground aquifer (to feed the Mill Lake water park and other projects around the city) that feeds our well but, they have done due diligence regarding research/studies and there is absolutely no concern about water supply. We will not be affected by their usage and should not be concerned” We took them at their word and didn’t inquire or follow up, we trusted they were right. Our well just ran dry. Bone dry. We found the “study” that the city mentioned in the letters as public information on-line. The “study” was performed by two UFV students, employed by the city and our address is not listed as an existing well in use anywhere in the 32 page document. They concluded that, “The water usage will not affect any current well users.” They were wrong.  We contacted the person located on the bottom of the letters we received, “Jeff, city engineer” and his response, “we have no responsibility to keep your well full and will not be doing anything to help you. You do not own the water underground and we are within our rights to access and use it all.”

My husband replied, “If this is the case, is there any way we can pay the $9,200-14,000 (depending on which system we choose to hook up) that you are asking for in payments? We can’t live without water and we can’t come up with that kind of money this quickly. What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” The city’s reply? “No work starts and no water access begins until you pay us in full, then we show up and tap the city water main.”

We are a family of seven, law abiding citizens, up to date on all property taxes, living without water through no fault of our own, other than we trusted the city when they said they had our interests at heart and we should not be concerned. We have been driven from our inhabitable waterless home and are currently living with the charity of others. We are attempting to liquidate every asset we possess in order to save enough money to regain access to a basic necessity and what we thought of as a basic right, water. Furniture, our children’s toys, household items, anything we realize is now not as important when you are put in a situation like this, a real emergency.
Shame on you, City of Abbotsford, for being willing to put a family in a situation like this for a water park! Is that where my children are supposed to fill their water bottles? All we asked for was the ability to pay you over time, to access water now, so we can live. We are living in a “State of Emergency”, which would be loudly declared by City Hall to the entire province, on behalf of all inhabitants of Abbotsford, if there was a city wide lack of water, affecting everyone. Why are we less important? We can’t flush our toilets, bathe, do laundry, cook, drink! This isn’t humane and makes me ashamed to call this city home!
You claim to care about your residents, I don’t see much proof in this situation! Isn’t clean drinking water a basic right in Canada? One that my daughter, has carried a water jug on her head and walked around Mill Lake in order to support those in 3rd world countries who aren’t as fortunate as us, in receiving. The irony! We’ve been silent until now but at the loud request of those close to us, we are making our case public and stating: All we’re asking for is the ability to access what everyone at City Hall is currently using and enjoying, WATER, in a realistic and affordable payment situation that is sustainable in a large, young family whose only option may be to go bankrupt. Is that too much to ask? Wait, should we even be forced to pay approximately $14,000 to repair a basic necessity that our home had access to just because you decided to take it away from us?