Unlike Kelowna and elsewhere in the Okanagan, there won’t be any watering restrictions in Boulder, Colorado this summer, city officials there have determined. Even though the snowpack in the mountain areas that are the source of Boulder’s municipal water supply was below average this past winter, such restrictions won’t be necessary. This is because Boulder has managed to control its rate of population growth thereby making sure that the demand for water doesn’t outpace the supply. In 1971 residents voted in a public referendum to cap the population growth rate of the city at 2% per year. This was further reduced to 1% in 1995.
Back in 1971 Boulder residents also heard the “growth benefits everyone ” argument that is frequently heard in Kelowna, but saw through it as a ploy by developers and their business allies to profit from endless growth and rejected it. As a result, they have been able to maintain a high quality of life and will be enjoying green lawns this summer. In fact, Boulder frequently ranks in the top ten on the most desirable cities in the U.S. in which to live. Recently, Kelowna was ranked by MoneySense magazine at 115th on a list of the best cities in Canada.
Boulder residents take sustainability seriously and realize that they cannot outgrow the resources that support their numbers and still be sustainable. In Kelowna sustainability is just a catch-word that has almost no meaning, and Kelowna’s new Official Community Plan is being written without any attempt to keep the future population to a sustainable number. Boulder residents are smart and elect representatives to their city council that will keep their city sustainable and assure the continuation of a high quality of life. Kelowna residents are — well, let’s just say they are easily duped.
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