This new report shows how greywater is actually sewage and poses risks to health and water quality….

[see link below for the complete report]

Greywater poses risk to lakes
Salmon Arm Observer
By Barb Brouwer
July 20, 2010

Greywater is often indistinguishable from blackwater and discharges from private and commercial watercraft pose a risk to public health and water quality in Shuswap and Mara lakes.

This is one of the conclusions of a draft Review of Greywater Management Strategies to Protect Health and Water Quality in Shuswap Lake, commissioned by the Fraser Basin Council.

Prepared by Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd., the report notes greywater discharge to Shuswap and Mara lakes is greatest during the summer boating season, particularly where houseboats congregate at popular beaches.

One test taken at Neilsen Beach Aug. 28, 2008, where 13 houseboats were moored, showed fecal coliform counts high enough to close swimming beaches under Health and Welfare Canada standards. But fecal coliform isn’t the only aspect of greywater that poses a health concern. According to the report, greywater from houseboats showed considerably higher levels of degradable organic matter (BOD) than domestic wastewater.

Monitoring last summer reveals that in July, houseboats on Shuswap Lake discharged almost six times the levels of degradable organic material than the Salmon Arm treatment plant.

‘Since the Salmon Arm treatment plant effluent is disinfected prior to discharge it has negligible fecal coliforms, which makes the houseboat greywater discharges a very important source of pathogen indicators, although no fecal coliform loadings were calculated for houseboats due to their high variability,’ reads the report.

Todd Kyllo, co-owner of Twin Anchors Houseboats, is angry that contributors to the report used 2008 data rather than a 2009 report by the Ministry of Environment and Interior Health.

‘After the MOE greywater report of 2009 was released, we had a meeting with MOE, IH, houseboat companies and the District of Sicamous,’ he says. ‘The report was given to us showing basically there was no health concern from the greywater.’

A newsletter sponsored by the three Sicamous houseboat companies and BC Marine Trades was mailed to area homes recently. It promotes the value of the industry to the Shuswap and describes issues around reconfiguring houseboats to accommodate greywater storage tanks.

‘…the technology is expensive, installing holding tanks creates stability and safety issues and there are no facilities to accommodate pumping out large volumes of water,’ reads the newsletter, indicating the houseboat companies continue to work with MOE to implement plans to significantly reduce the amount of greywater discharge.

As well, the newsletter maintains greywater discharge from houseboats is well below federal and provincial guidelines, has minimal impact on water bodies that refresh regularly and contributes minimal amounts of nutrients.

Meanwhile, Kyllo says the houseboat companies are going to be conducting their own water testing over a five-year period ‘ not just a study of houseboats, but of Sicamous Beach, Canoe Beach, Salmon Arm Bay and Blind Bay.

‘We want to get a scientific baseline on water quality in all these areas,’ he says. ‘It is our belief it (results) will be pretty much the same as it is behind the houseboats.’

Whatever the results, the Fraser Basin Council-sponsored study states that while deep waters in the middle of the lake remain relatively pristine, ‘subtle shifts’ are appearing and the appearance of lake-wide algal blooms do not bode well.

Further, notes the report, ‘it is doubtful that public health and water quality in Shuswap Lake and Mara Lake can be adequately protected over the long term unless a greywater containment strategy is developed, followed by defined timelines to eliminate greywater discharges from private and commercial watercraft.’

To start with, the report recommends the removal of automatic dishwashers and laundry facilities from houseboats, switching to phosphate-free degradable detergents, careful removal of food waste from dishes and pots before washing and conservative use of fats and oils. It also recommends all watercraft be fitted out with greywater tanks and that pump-out facilities be established around the lake, possibly beginning with pump-out barges.

But Kyllo asks why houseboat companies should be forced to spend millions changing houseboat infrastructure when greywater comprises only 1.5 to two per cent of the total pollution entering the lake system.

Click here to download the greywater report.

Sad news about a large retail sprawl development for the Salmon River floodplain…

SmartCentres approved in 5-2 vote by council
Salmon Arm Observer
By Lachlan Labere
July 26, 2010

City council has approved the necessary amendments for the SmartCentres proposal to proceed.

The final vote was five two, with Mayor Marty Bootsma in favour along with Couns. Kevin Flynn, Chad Eliason, Debbie Cannon and Alan Harrison. Opposed were Couns. Ivan Idzan and Ken Jamieson. Only for an amendment to an amendment, to limit the footprint of the anchor tenant to 116,000 square-feet, did council vote in favour.

After hearing from more than 350 presenters (excluding letters written on people’s behalf) in four public hearings last week, tonight (Monday) it was council’s turn to make a decision. With the bar raised so high by so many who spoke in favour or against, council did not cheat audience with a simple yea or nay.

Bootsma spoke first, stating up front that he would support the proposed amendment to the official community plan, various zoning amendments and the phased development agreement. He said the debate boiled down to location and economics. Regarding location, he credited the developer for getting approval prior to third reading from the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which was not the case when the developer’s previous proposal went before council in 2008. As for economics, he said the downtown would not be hurt by the development, and though it would have a negative impact on some businesses, it would have a positive impact on others while providing the city with substantial tax revenue to help pay for services desired by Salmon Arm residents.

Speaking to the perceived division the developer has created in the community, Flynn said that SmartCentres cannot divide the community, but actions and reactions do. And, after stating his intention to vote yes, he went on to explain why. He referenced words that came up throughout the hearings such as ‘pristine’ and ‘paradise,’ and said the part of the SmartCentres property that’s to be developed is neither. He said the location, at 30th and 30th, would help prevent highway commercial sprawl. He also corrected the repeated reference to the property as developable land. Instead, he said it is technically called brownfield redevelopment, referring to property that once was the home of past activities but now sits abandoned, vacant, derelict or underutilized.

Cannon thanked the Wetland Alliance: The Ecological Response (WA:TER) for their persistence, and for revealing the high water mark in the developer’s original qualified environmental professional’s report to be flawed. She admitted she was wrong to vote in favour of the development in 2008. But this time she was in favour. She said her decision, and council’s, was not about lakeshore development or wetlands, or the potential tenant and how much their employees will be paid, but about land use, and was supportive of the 30 acres that the developer will be preserving as agricultural land.

Eliason championed Salmon Arm, and stated that no matter the financial engine of the community, people will continue to move to the city. He credited the pro-development group for forming and the various groups on the no side for the education they provided. He later argued that council, or future councils, need address density options for development in the downtown core, look at making land available in the downtown area for Okanagan College, and work towards attracting clean, green industry to the community. However, he said the city does need revenue to support the various programs citizens want and that commercial growth is how the city funds these initiatives.

With Eliason sealing the deal in favour, about a quarter of the audience upped and left. Harrison was not deterred, however, and proceeded with his speech in favour of the amendments. He began by stating that he did not support the development in 2008 and felt it was a prudent decision. This time around, however, he said the new proposal has been highly scrutinized by MOE and DFO, and that it will not have the same impact. He challenged other suggested locations, stating they would not fit (referring to the Jackson property), or do significant environmental damage. As for economics, the typically prudent councillor said the development may not be a saviour in itself, but would serve as a catalyst.

Idzan revealed how difficult the debate has been for him. He credited presentations made by both sides, stating it’s a sign of how Salmon Arm is maturing as a community. He questioned foreseeable infrastructure costs related to the highway that Salmon Arm residents might eventually be on the hook for, and expressed his concern for past mistakes made on the property, and the developer benefitting from those mistakes.

Like Eliason, Ken Jamieson argued that Salmon Arm is a town that’s growing, and provided StatsCanada figures to advance this case. He listed all the various elements he and council have had to consider from the public hearings, ranging from the relationship between the city and its neighbouring First Nations bands, to hiring practices to Chinese cockroaches. And while he agreed with comments from presenters of both the yes and no persuasion, he could not vote in favour. For one reason, he stated the city’s relationship with First Nations is already strained, and that apart from meeting the minimum requirements of an OCP process, the city has had no discussion of substance with either the Neskonlith or Adam’s Lake bands. Jamieson then cited portions of the city’s official community plan, and concluded that voting against the proposal in no way represents a moratorium on development, but that it does not meet with the guidelines of the OCP.

Regional districts have yet to agree on funding for watershed protection…

Funding for SLIPP on a slippery slope
Eagle Valley News
by Lachlan Labere
Published: July 13, 2010

Politicians may agree the Shuswap Watershed needs protection, but who’s going to manage it and who’s going to pay remain big issues. Ian McGregor, Ministry of Environment (MOE) regional manager, met with Columbia Shuswap Regional District directors from the Shuswap as well as chief administrative officers from the Thompson Nicola and North Okanagan regional districts.

The intent of the meeting was to bring directors up to speed on governance and cost issues prior to a Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process (SLIPP) meeting on June 16. Declaring McGregor’s presentation to be a good overview, CSRD CAO Charles Hamilton says it became clear during the meeting that the way in which costs will be apportioned is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome.

Planning to meet with administrators of the other regional districts involved, Hamilton says it is clear CSRD would incur the lions’ share, with NORD contributing 20 per cent and TNRD 16 per cent. How costs are spread fairly within the regional districts is another issue.

‘The sentiment around the table was generally supportive, at least conceptually,’ he says. ‘But, who pays for it, or how costs are broken down, that’s where the rubber hits the road. Each area only wants to pay in proportion to the benefit they receive.’ Politicians also have differing views about who’s responsible for damaging the lake the most.

‘Personally I feel the issue, in part is nutrient loading and the sources of which are widespread and varied and virtually every one of us no matter what you do in life contribute to that loading,’ says Area C South Shuswap director Ted Bacigalupo. ‘The finger pointing has to stop because no one or no single entity can be held fully responsible for the state of the watershed.’

With a great number of aging septic beds on or near the waterfront, South Shuswap has heard harsh criticism for being without building regulations ‘ criticism most often vocalized by Salmon Arm Mayor Marty Bootsma. ‘CSRD is the only one without building regulations, they’re in the Stone Age when it comes to building regs,’ he said, noting regional districts on all sides do have regulations.

Bacigalupo maintains a sewage treatment system for which CSRD is awaiting infrastructure grant approval includes a very detailed approach to the management and control of septic systems which can be accomplished without the need for building inspection.

‘The reality is the discharge from the Salmon River and from three municipalities, although tertiary treated, coupled with normal land runoff, outdated septic systems and marine activity are all part of the problem. There is no one single cause.’

Robert Niewenhuisen City of Salmon Arm engineer says that upgrades are made to the sewage treatment system every year. ‘The level our treatment plant provides is that water is almost to the point of being drinkable,’ he says. noting that 4.6 million litres a day of tertiary treated effluent go into the bay. Without exact numbers, Niewenhusien figures there are about 700 septic systems within city boundaries.

Meanwhile, although he agrees with Bacigalupo that the watershed’s problems have multiple sources, Phil Hallinan of the Fraser Basin Council, says building inspection is part and parcel of municipal government. ‘A liquid waste plan will simply say the system has to be plumbed correctly,’ he says. ‘Proper building rules and regulations would also deal with pavement of areas.’

Sicamous Mayor Malcolm MacLeod says all of his town is connected to the sewage treatment system, which has just received another large grant. Like Bacigalupo he has felt the sting of criticism.

‘One of my concerns is we haven’t really identified one of the biggest causes possibly of our lake going sideways,’ he says, pointing to Blind Bay septic beds and noting the intense finger-pointing at the discharge of greywater from houseboats. ‘We haven’t really determined that that’s the worst factor.’ MacLeod is both willing to find answers and pay his community’s share for protecting the watershed.

‘We either put up or shut up. It will cost us to do this,’ he says. ‘To think the province is going to do it for us is not fair. The person that lives up north or on the island, why should they pay for it?’

While the CSRD and NORD dither, the TNRD steps up to the plate with cash for watershed protection…

City, South Thompson to contribute to Shuswap
By CAM FORTEMS
Daily News Staff Reporter

Worries about massive algae blooms as well as toxic substances in Shuswap Lake have pushed regional politicians into contributing to a water quality monitoring program. Regional district politicians who live along the southern Thompson watershed agreed in principle Thursday to fund a project aimed at protecting Shuswap Lake.

Ian McGregor, a Ministry of Environment manager in Kamloops who heads the Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process (SLIPP), presented a report to the TNRD outlining its history and current plans.

The contribution from this region toward the $335,000 annual project for three years represents about 16 per cent of the properties on the system. The biggest contribution will come from Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, which is slated to chip in $214,000. It is home to about 64 per cent of the properties on Shuswap Lake.

‘It’s our intake and the watershed where we’re getting our water,’ TNRD chairman and Kamloops mayor Peter Milobar said of contribution from city taxpayers. ‘We’d be interested in next steps.’ Staff will determine how to apportion the $53,000 contribution from this regional district among municipalities and unincorporated areas along the system.

In 2007, a University of B.C. adjunct professor warned of nanoparticles and endocrine disruptors contained in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products contained in outfall from private sewage plants on the lake. Ministry of Environment testing has also found elevated levels of fecal coliform along popular swimming and boating areas.

‘I’ve lived here 40 years and when I first moved here you could dip your cup in the crystal clear water and take a drink,’ said Shuswap activist Jim Cooperman. ‘Now they warn not to drink the water.’ Cooperman applauded the TNRD for taking the lead while other regional districts are not yet willing.

He said the biggest threats to water quality are houseboats, leaking septic systems, agricultural runoff and outfall from a small number of private septic systems. In 2008 a rare algae bloom grew to about 50 kilometres in length on Shuswap Lake and a similar bloom made an appearance on Mara Lake this year.

Directors whose areas border Shuswap Lake as well as the South Thompson and Thompson rivers downstream voted to contribute to SLIPP. ‘Anything that affects our water intake we have to take seriously,’ said director Marg Spina.

Andy Anderson, mayor of Ashcroft, said the village will contribute to a program due to worries about algae that could eventually make its way down the river system to the municipality’s intake.

The SLIPP budget is pared down almost by half after the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District rejected a larger budget. The new budget will focus on water quality and will leave out a recreation management plan looking at whether there are too many ski boats and houseboats on the lake, for example.

‘There’s a lot of recreation on Shuswap Lake. Some of it’s not that safe. We’d like to do a plan,’ McGregor said. He said eventually areas may be zoned for high-speed boating, for example, while others would be off limits to motorboats.

But for now the focus is on protecting water quality from sewage outfall and agricultural runoff. It will include testing and education for boaters and residents.
Governments involved in SLIPP include regional districts, Ministry of Environment and Department of Fisheries and Oceans.