Fisheries society remains opposed to development

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

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.