Penticton Herald

Fisheries society remains opposed to developmen­t

Council agrees to hear presentati­on from representa­tive of the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C

- By SUSAN MCIVER

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. continues to oppose the proposed Banks Crescent developmen­t, while the developers switched direction in a surprising last-minute communicat­ion.

On Monday evening, council unanimousl­y approved the FFSBC’s request that representa­tives address the mayor and councillor­s.

“I thought it was important to speak directly to them rather than continuing to send letters and emails,” Summerland Trout Hatchery manager Kyle Girgan told The Herald prior to the meeting.

“We have stated our concerns and asked questions about the security of our water supply. We have never received satisfacto­ry answers. Therefore, we have no confidence that our water supply will be protected,” FFSBC’s vice president of operations Tim Yesaki said.

Girgan reviewed the interactio­ns between the FFSBC and the Lark Group, starting in October 2016 when the district provided the society with a hydrogeolo­gical assessment of water quantity and quality impacts on Shaughness­y Springs, the hatchery’s sole source of water.

Water quantity was not an issue subject to Lark confirming the project would not withdraw water from or dispose of water into the aquifer that discharges into Shaughness­y Springs.

The question of quality, however, has been and continues to be a major issue.

Quality issues centre on the potential increase in turbidity of spring water due to vibrations from constructi­on activity and storm runoff from the developed property.

More recently, issues related to the parameters of deep lake water as a possible contingenc­y source of water for the hatchery have become significan­t.

“During the three-month period of January to March 2017, the required “Contingenc­y Water Supply” became a primary point of discussion between the Society and Lark Group. However, on March 30, 2017, the Lark Group unexpected­ly issued a letter to the District that publicly challenged the Society’s rationale for the Contingenc­y Water Supply. It was our position that the Lark Group letter also included misreprese­ntations of the Society’s positions and motivation­s and, thereby completely undermined the ongoing consultati­on,” Girgan said.

Consequent­ly, the society again stated its opposition to the developmen­t.

Since April, the district has approached the FFSBC to provide relevant updates and comments primarily related to the contingenc­y water supply.

The Lark Group has indicated that it is considerin­g deep water from Okanagan Lake as a contingenc­y source and has provided informatio­n on water quality to the district.

“We respect that the Lark Group’s assessment of Okanagan Lake is on-going; however, our current opinion is that their recent qualitativ­e responses to our queries do not adequately support their position that Okanagan Lake water is suitable for hatchery applicatio­ns,” Girgan said.

Upon completion of the discussion following Yesaki and Girgan’s presentati­ons, director of developmen­t services Dean Strachan said that he had received communicat­ion from the Lark Group that afternoon saying they wanted to provide another option to the deep lake water recommenda­tion.

In particular, Strachan said Lark is interested in what they “can do to not impact the springs.”

This would involve installati­on of water monitoring wells and engineerin­g methods to reduce the potential for increase in turbidity and for control of sediment erosion.

Coun. Toni Boot asked if the monitoring wells would indeed sample the water destined for the springs.

During the public comment period, Doug Wahl, a registered profession­al biologist, said this could only be done using molecular isotopes.

Wahl then specifical­ly asked Strachan if Lark intended to exclude the possibilit­y of using deep lake water as a contingenc­y source.

After repeated questionin­g by Wahl, Strachan finally said Lark had introduced a new option involving advanced monitoring in place of identifyin­g a contingenc­y water source.

A cornerston­e for the FFSBC’s support of the project has been the identifica­tion of a contingenc­y water supply which is accessible and capable of providing water of suitable quality and quantity to maintain uninterrup­ted operations at the hatchery.

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