Water agreement reached with UBID

Kensington Island Properties took another step forward Friday when the regional district and Union Bay Improvement District (UBID) signed an agreement that will enable the company to proceed with constructing a water filtration system for the Island community.
“The water resolution is now reached, which gives KIP the go-ahead for water,” KIP vice-president Brian McMahon said.
The company still needs to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Environment for a wastewater treatment plant, which needs the Comox Valley Regional District’s stamp of approval, as was the case with a water infrastructure agreement between KIP and the UBID.
The CVRD board signed a master development agreement in 2010. A clause calling for a transfer of the water licence to the regional district had been a sticking point for the UBID throughout discussions.
UBID board chair Carol Molstad said Friday’s agreement recognizes the long-term need for water management and allows Union Bay to retain control of the UBID water supply system.
It also identifies two conditions under which a transfer of the district’s water supply assets could occur — if the UBID requests a transfer and the CVRD accepts, or the Province changes UBID’s letters patent and requires a transfer. But Molstad said neither of these triggers will happen in the foreseeable future.
“We have been given every indication that the Province has no intention of forcing a transfer,” she said in a statement. “UBID retains ownership of the land around and under the lake as well as the pipeline right of way, including after a potential transfer.”
Before applying for a building permit or subdividing, the regional district says KIP needs to prove there is an adequate amount of water from Langley Lake to supply the land in question.
McMahon expects to reconvene soon with the ministry and consultants to discuss the wastewater treatment plant.
“The grass is growing and the paint is drying,” he quipped, referring to the 13 years that have passed since KIP purchased 1,000-plus acres in Union Bay.
The company plans to build houses, a golf course, a marina walkway, and a series of parks and trails. McMahon said KIP has so far invested more than $12 million into the project.
• • •
The centrepiece of KIP’s proposal is a Scottish Links-style, 18-hole destination golf course overlooking Georgia Strait, designed by world-renowned golf course architect Gil Hanse.
The Philadelphia-based Hanse built Castle Stuart in Scotland, named course of the year by Golf Magazine in 2009. The publication also named him Golf Architect of the Year.
The Olympic planning committee has chosen Hanse to be the golf course architect for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition, Donald Trump has asked Hanse to rebuild the course at the Doral Golf Resort in Florida.
“His stock price has gone up substantially since we got him,” said Kensington Island Properties vice-president Brian McMahon. “He’s going to be here hands on to build it.”

High river flows are a safety concern.

High water levels near Okanagan rivers have conservation officers reminding anglers to be wary.

“Right now they are trying to let as much water out as possible out of Okanagan Lake and the river is flowing very, very fast. We are starting to get some spring fishing activity and there are anglers that are starting to fish. They should be using quite a level of caution associated with the river,” said local conservation officer Jim Beck.

The provincial government sent out a warning on Friday to use caution around the Okanagan River as recent rains combined with this year’s snowpack melt are expected to cause higher runoff into the river from Okanagan Lake for the next several weeks.

“Usually the Okanagan River is quite a tame little river, but right now it is boiling pretty aggressively,” said Beck. “Really be sure of your footing if you are out there, and if you have any small children, keep them away, and the same with pets. I wouldn’t be wanting to throw a stick or ball into that river for your pet because you might not see your pet again.”

The spring melt has also put local rescue teams on high-alert who are part of a regional team that covers an area from the Canada-U.S. border in the south to Vernon in the north and from Manning Park in the west to the Kettle River in the east.

Flows in Okanagan River between Okanagan Lake and Osoyoos Lake are currently well above normal and are expected to remain high throughout the spring and early summer. The province is urging those who do go into the river to take precautionary safety measures such as using a safe watercraft and wearing a life-jacket.

Vernon uses treatment plant to replace lake water

It was a first for the Regional District of North Okanagan’s water quality team.

After receiving a phone call Friday morning from the City of Vernon’s operations department that turbidity levels at the Kal Lake station had gone over five NTUs (units for measuring turbidity), which would normally lead to a boil water notice, RDNO water quality decided to turn off the Mission Hill water treatment plant and push  Duteau  Creek treatment plant water to all Greater Vernon water customers.

“This was the first time we’ve ever done this and it worked awesome,” said Renee Clark, water quality manager for RDNO. “It was a really good experience.”

Water officials talked with representatives from Interior Health about the situation, after discussing things with Vernon operations, and a decision was made to put Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Noric House and Mission Hill Elementary school onto a 24-hour precautionary boil water notice. All three groups are on the Mission Hill treatment plant.

“It was a bit of a disturbance for them but we walked through it fairly well,” said Clark, advising directors of the situation at their regular meeting Wednesday afternoon.

As of Wednesday, the Duteau Creek water system was being used for the entire area with officials monitoring the turbidity at the Kal Lake pump station to see when it should be brought back on.

Clark said as of Wednesday the turbidity NTUs were still up around 2.3.

At the region’s headgate Friday, the turbidity measured around 14 NTUs.

“Without the treatment plant in place, we wouldn’t have been able to produce the water,” said Clark. “The Duteau Creek measurement was 1.25 NTUs but it’s now around .5, well below the 1 where we would look at a boil advisory.”

Clark said it’s the first time in a few years the turbidity in the water reached five NTUs.

“We do see peaks of around 3.5 and at that time we’d go to a water quality advisory,” she said. “That hasn’t been an issue for many years.”

The Water Supply Association was one of 13 partnering organizations to share the OBWB award.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) and 13 partnering agencies were presented with the “Award for Excellence in the Water and Waste Community” by the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA).

The award was presented in recognition of the partnership’s work on the three-year extensive Okanagan Water and Supply Demand Study.

“After several years of intense work, getting to understand the complex working of our water in the Okanagan – how much we have – how much we use – it’s wonderful to have that work recognized by the BCWWA with this major provincial award,” says Anna Warwick Sears, Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

“It is excellent to be recognized by BCWWA – the biggest water and wastewater industry group in the province. There is no greater honour than to be recognized by your peers.”

The award was presented to Dr. Warwick Sears and Dr. Wenda Mason, Manager of the BC River Forecast Centre, and accepted on behalf of the Okanagan Water Supply and Demand Project Partnership during the BCWWA’s annual convention this week at the Penticton Convention Centre.

In presenting the award, the BCWWA noted that the Partnership produced the most detailed assessment of water supply and demand ever conducted in Western Canada. As a result, the Okanagan now has the best water information in the province.

“This Partnership exemplifies the best of collaboration, innovation and applied research which will support future water planning in the Okanagan, but will also help address BC’s water challenges,” says Daisy Foster, Chief Executive Officer of the BCWWA.

“The impact of this work will be felt throughout BC for decades by providing new approaches and models that can be replicated in other parts of the province, and by informing BC water policy and law reform.”

Could Health Canada guidelines cost Metro Vancouver $400 million?

The mayor of the City of North Vancouver is calling on the provincial government to ignore new federal drinking water standards that he says provide no health benefits but could create $400 million in new costs for Metro Vancouver taxpayers.

Darrell Mussatto, also chairman of Metro’s utilities committee, told the North Shore News “all the science and all the scientists say there’s no good reason for this.”

In November of 2011, Health Canada released a draft report titled Turbidity in Drinking Water. The federal agency proposes that the maximum acceptable level of cloudiness in drinking water be reduced from five nephelometric turbidity units, or NTUs, to one.

“You would not notice the difference in a glass of water,” Mussatto said. “We don’t know why they would come up with these stringent new regulations.”

In a March 16 report to the utilities committee, senior utility engineer Stan Woods wrote that the changes “have not been scientifically justified, are inappropriately more stringent than regulation in other parts of the world including the United States, and are not justified by any assessment of cost versus benefit.”

Woods noted that drinking water was not held to the same standard in such population centres as New York, Boston, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.

Although the federal government can produce guidelines, ultimately the province will decide whether or not to adopt them. Early conversations with provincial staff, said Mussatto, have been promising. “The province is listening,” he said. “They understand the science isn’t there.”

If the higher standards are adopted, they wouldn’t have any effect on the new SeymourCapilano system, which already has filtration equipment. Upgrades would be required at the Coquitlam reservoir however, and that could cost $300 million to $400 million, Mussatto said, money that would come from around Metro Vancouver, in part from the North Shore.

The North Vancouver mayor said his committee will be urging the Metro Vancouver board to write to the province and the federal government advising them against the new guidelines. Mussatto also plans to travel to Victoria in early May and take the matter up with MLAs in person.

The potential for new water costs is particularly hard to swallow on the North Shore because strict new federal standards require a new wastewater treatment plant on the North Shore, which is estimated to cost more than $1 billion dollars. Funding these major infrastructure projects is a major regional issue, Mussatto said.

“We’re going to see a real tussle and a tug-of-war between municipalities,” he said.

Provincial surface water treatment objectives released

The Ministry of Health released its March 2012 report titled Drinking Water Treatment Objectives at the recent BCWWA conference in Penticton.

The long awaited standards provide much needed guidance to the province’s health authorities on the provincial standards for  treating surface water. The treatment objectives reiterate the 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 treatment objective for removal of viruses, protozoa and bacteria, and provide information regarding acceptable treatment approaches as well as providing raw and treated water turbidity objectives.

Follow this link to download a copy of the treatment objectives:  Drinking Water Treatment Objectives.

Much of U.S. in the midst of drought, billions in agricultural losses.

First it was Georgia, with Governor Sonny Purdue holding prayer meetings in attempt to incur divine intervention. Then it was Texas, with uncontrolled wildfires outside of Austin and water shipped on the back of tankers instead of flowing out of faucets. And as recently as last year, the southern United States has been left reeling from over $10 billion in agriculture losses.

And there’s no end in sight.

In the March/April issue of Water Efficiency, I discussed the US Drought Monitor that revealed, “many American cities—including Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Phoenix, AZ; and Oklahoma City, OK—are situated smack dab in the middle of a drought belt. Indeed, much of the western US appears to be headed in the same direction.”

Unfortunately, a lack of April showers has plunged much of the country into drought conditions—transforming the drought belt into a drought blanket. Last week, theDrought Monitor reported that 61% of the lower 48 states are experiencing “abnormally dry” drought conditions. In fact, only two states—Ohio and Alaska—are not experiencing any drought, or “near-drought”, conditions.

With 48 states in the crosshairs of drought—the highest percentage since 2007, according to the Drought Monitor—many regions unaccustomed to water shortages are finding themselves at the losing end of their water resources. According the US Geological Survey, New England is currently experiencing stream flow levels at record lows. In fact, all along the East Coast, communities are struggling to deal with unusual drought conditions, including:

* Connecticut has “endured its driest January-March period ever” according toWeather Channel meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.

* Vermont is listed as “abnormally dry” in the sixth month, after recording its wettest August on record, including flooding as a result of Hurricane Irene.

* Wildfires in Florida, New Jersey, and all along the East Coast are being blamed on dry, windy conditions.

In the South, conditions are also continuing to worsen. The South Florida Water Management District has issued a water shortage warning extending from Key West to Orlando. And parts of Georgia and Texas continue to struggle under dry conditions exacerbated by La Niña weather conditions.

In California, the Department of Water Resources has warned that the state’s snowpack is 45% below normal. And in the Plains states and the Midwest, farmers are keeping a wary eye on weather conditions due to a less than optimal snowpack, thanks to an unusually mild winter.

So, what do you think? How do we get ourselves out from under the drought blanket? Are we doing enough to reduce demand and eliminate water waste? And do you think there’s enough of an understanding by the general public that drought doesn’t just impact the water that comes out of the tap, but the light switch, the gas pump, and just about every product and activity we depend on?

Recent studies conclude hydraulic fracturing can cause man-made earthquakes.

Two separate studies are providing insights into the earth-shaking consequences of the controversial gas extraction process known as fracking.

Both studies confirm that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can trigger manmade earthquakes. The process involves blasting water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground to fracture rock to obtain oil and natural gas.

Energy companies are increasingly using the technique across Canada, where there is already regular seismic activity and an ever looming threat of various sized tremors.Both studies confirm that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can trigger manmade earthquakes. The process involves blasting water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground to fracturTwo separate studies are providing insights into the earth-shaking consequences of the controversial gas extraction process known as fracking.

e rock to obtain oil and natural gas.

The U.S. Geological Survey is set to release its findings Wednesday that a “remarkable” increase of quakes in the U.S. midcontinent since 2001 is “almost certainly” the result of oil and gas production.

U.K. experts, meanwhile, point to a study released Monday that found recent earthquakes in northwest England were caused by fluid injection into a nearby fault zone as evidence fracking can be safe when conducted by responsible operators.

The consultants’ report, commissioned by the U.K. government and published on Tuesday recommends that fracking should be halted temporarily if there is a tremor greater than magnitude 0.5 on the Richter scale. Cuadrilla Resources, a company that halted its fracking activities in northwestern England following tremors of magnitudes 2.3 and 1.5 in April and May last year, has said that is acceptable.

Opposition to fracking has ramped up since the release of the 2010 documentary “Gasland,” which shows residents of small town Colorado setting alight tap water they charge was soured by nearby oil industry activity.

Vernon wants residents and government officials to embrace treated effluent as a resource.

Vernon wants residents and government officials to embrace treated effluent as a resource.

City staff will urge the Ministry of Environment to be more supportive of treated waste water being used for irrigation.

“It’s treated very well, almost to the extent of our drinking water,” said Rob Dickinson, engineering manager.

Dickinson says while some ministry officials support the program, others are extremely negative, especially if some is accidentally discharged.

“The ministry needs to work with us a lot more closely,” he said.

Dickinson believes there is also a need for residents to accept treated effluent for irrigation purposes, particularly when the domestic water supply is limited.

“There’s so much misinformation out there,” he said.

Case in point, he says, is the view that treated effluent shouldn’t be used on crops but many of the vegetables we acquire from Mexico and California are irrigated that way.

“In Canada, we say, ‘Oh, it’s been touched by dirty water.’”

The city is also in discussion with the Regional District of North Okanagan to see if treated effluent can be used for agricultural irrigation, leaving current water sources for domestic uses like drinking.

RDNO is presently considering separating agricultural customers from the Duteau Creek system so that water doesn’t have to be treated and capacity at the plant can be directed towards domestic customers.

The goal is to defer the Interior Health Authority’s demands for $20 million in filtration.

Dickinson believes such upgrades can be financially onerous if they aren’t phased in.

“You will bankrupt some municipalities if you say filtration must happen tomorrow,” he said.

Sprinkling restrictions dropped demand by 13% in Abbotsford in 2011.

Although it’s hard to fathom after such a rainy spring, Abbotsford residents may be facing lawn-watering restrictions this summer.

City staff is recommending council impose twice-weekly morning sprinkling from May to September to reduce peak water demand during hot weather.

Abbotsford doesn’t suffer any water shortages most of the year but peak day demand in the summer increases significantly due to outdoor water use.

The city has implemented some sort of summer water restrictions since 1995.

In 2009, a full sprinkling ban was enacted to deal with excessive heat and high water use in July and August, with a similar ban put in place for 2010.

Abbotsford’s existing water supply system limit is 143 million litres per day (MLD).

Last summer the city implemented a twice-weekly ban and found the peak day demand dropped to 93 MLD, a 13 per cent reduction from the year before.

But staff noted 2011 was an unusual year in terms of water consumption, possibly due a cool weather and rain during the summer.

Residents may still be faced with a full watering ban this summer, particularly if demand goes up in hot weather or if the Bevan Wells aren’t operating at full capacity.

The city cut the funds for sprinkler control staff and its rain barrel program to limit the 2012 budget.

However, the city still has other conservation initiatives in place such as an irrigation and landscape assessment program and low-flow toilet and washing machine rebates.

Abbotsford also recently installed Smart Meters and implemented bimonthly billing as a means to make residents more aware of their water use consumption.

But due to public outcry, council recently abandoned tiered water rates, understood to provide financial incentives to reduce consumption, and returned to its previous uniform rate system.