Written by Samedi Valpic nr 5 – August 16th –
Has the price of water skyrocketed, or is it just cruising along? And what does it mean to keep our taps flowing?
Florian Vuistiner, Head of Services, Techniques et de l’Aménagement du Territoire for the Commune of Lens, and President of the Association Valaisanne des Services Techniques, gave us a presentation on this issue, its equipment, costs and financing.
The water that flows on demand into our properties (and out of them) is the result of a network of 229 km of pipes, with reservoirs, pressure reducers and microfiltration at a total cost of 129 million francs, to be renewed every 40 to 50 years. This is just for the Commune of Lens, which has a population of 4,000 but needs to equip itself for its 17,500 residents (inhabitants + secondary residents). A real “industrial” installation. Extrapolating these figures to include Icogne and Crans-Montana can be dizzying.
Water is financed by a tax, which means that all users pay for this object (water), for the whole object, but nothing else. A tax is earmarked for a specific purpose, as opposed to a general purpose tax whose use is decided by the authority levying it (Commune, Canton, Confederation).
Water financing comprises 2 parts: the depreciation of the installations (pipes and their technical devices), which represents the bulk of the expenditure, and the annual variable costs (microfiltration, routine maintenance, consortiums and water rights). Variable costs are financed by invoicing on a per m3 basis according to individual consumption, while the “fixed” costs of depreciation of the entire installation are financed according to the m3 volume of each dwelling, a volume that is administratively known since it also serves as a tax base.
Florian Vuistiner gave us a very clear description of a scheme renovated 3 years ago, which concerns us all and in which we, the owners, share a common interest. As he concludes with a wink: “you only know the value of water when the well is dry”.
Let’s just say that he and his teams are working hard to ensure that everything (especially water) continues to flow freely on our properties.
The full presentation will be available in a week’s time in the Members’ Area / Valpic Saturdays.
NB: you can find all the technical and regulatory details concerning water on the respective websites of the 3 communes (access via the “Links” tab on the Valpic website).
Current station work: why?
In addition to water issues, it was inevitable that the question of roadworks disrupting the resort at the height of the tourist season should be raised. The Canton has declassified certain streets in the resort so that they become communal, thereby obliging itself to restore these streets to their original state at its own expense. If either Commune refuses, the work will then be at the expense of the communes and no longer the Canton. We’re talking millions here… So it’s easy to understand this disturbing timetable, in which tourism concerns seem to have been ignored by the Canton.