Water Ambassadors from Bill Metcalfe on Vimeo.
Chris Black and Avery DeBoer-Smith spent the day at Nelson’s downtown Wednesday market this week talking to passers-by about water and giving away sprinkler timers and low-flow shower heads.
Black is the water ambassador for the the Regional District of Central Kootenay. Deboer-Smith does the same job for the City of Nelson.
“I work in nine different rural communities outside of Nelson that have regionally owned water systems, “Black told the Star. “I help residents reduce their irrigation use, help them get the most out of their water.”
He says there is a big demand for the water assessments he provides. He’s done 18 in the past three days.
Deboer-Smith says there’s a lot of interest from Nelson residents as well.
“If they do automatic irrigation we can go over their system with them and make sure it is running efficiently and check for leaks. If it is manual we can talk about the efficiency of their sprinklers and look at their soil type. We also install free hose timers for residents, and we can talk with them about rain barrel installation, drought tolerant plants, low flow toilets, low flow shower heads.”
The city and the regional district provide water ambassador services as part of the Columbia Basin Trust’s Water Smart Program.