By Scott Stanfield – Comox Valley Record May 8, 2012 

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.”

By Kristi Patton – Penticton Western News May 8, 2012 

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.

By Roger Knox – Vernon Morning Star - May 4, 2012

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.”