Bowen Bulletin

It is said that history is simply a set of lies that we all agree to. The same can be said about available water supplies on our island. Several different groups with their own agendas find it useful to agree that water is scarce. The people who want to limit property development claim potential water shortages as a reason. Those who already have a good water system jump on the bandwagon because they don’t want to take any chance at all of jeopardising their good fortune. Global thinkers that worry about the world’s water problems seem somehow reassured when their own community has problems. Developers don’t want the existing population exploiting any major water sources because they want it reserved for future property developments. And the list goes on. But the lying has to stop. The Cape Roger Curtis development is about to crash headlong into the Cove Bay water system and the Community Lands development plans.

Here’s some background. Grafton Lake lies in the centre of the island half way between Scarborough and Cape Roger Curtis. It covers 47 acres and is over 40 feet deep. 22 feet below the surface is a pipe that supplies all of the water for the Snug Cove area, from Cates Hill to Valhalla to Millers Landing; something over 600 homes and businesses. The average water flow through the system is about 100 gallons per minute. So, if we ignore rainfall, inflow from creeks, evaporation and the water running out into Terminal Creek it would take about a year and a half for the water usage to lower the lake 6 feet. Anybody who has read one of those emergency water shortage notices sent out by the municipality most summers has every right to be perplexed. The supply problems were related to silt build-up at the dam and the need to pump water into Terminal Creek to keep it running but there was never any chance that there wouldn’t be enough water to run the system.

Lets jump for a moment to the Cape Roger Curtis (CRC) development proposal. Their glossy Neighbourhood Plan says that there is enough groundwater under their land to supply 700 homes and businesses. They have only proven 29 gallons per minute and its pretty crappy water. Considering that Cove Bay uses over 100 gallons per minute the CRC plan sounds more like creative writing than scientific documentation. So where will their water really come from? They’ve talked about rainwater harvesting and desalination but at the end of the day it will have to come from Grafton Lake.
This is where the discussion gets too complicated for anybody to want to deal with it. The correct number of lots for the Cape is about 100 to 120. But its hard to justify building a water system from Grafton Lake for so few connections. By the time you increase the density enough to justify the system it becomes debatable as to whether there would be enough water to meet the demand. The quantity numbers are further complicated because Grafton Lake will also be supplying whatever is built around Snug Cove on the Community Lands.

To determine how many houses you could service from Grafton Lake you have to decide on what ecological price you’re willing to pay. West Vancouver has a lake that they draw water from. If they draw it down too much, the sides slide into the water. This muddies the water and they have to switch over to the GVRD water lines. We don’t have that luxury. If we screw up the lake we still have to drink it. One possibility would be to raise the lake a couple of feet and let the wetlands created go dry every summer. Once you decide on how far you’re willing to go to turn the lake into a reservoir you have to determine the worst drought conditions that might occur and how much water rationing you’re willing to endure.

The bottom line is that we have a lot more available capacity from Grafton Lake than you’ve been led to believe but the amount available is not unlimited. The debate that we should be having is where we see that water being used and how quickly we want to start testing its limits.

This again takes us back to the CRC debate. The current proposed bylaw isn’t to rezone the property; it’s to revise our Official Community Plan to enshrine our desire to include their neighbourhood plan in our long term vision for the island. Their plan will become our plan and, when it becomes apparent a few years from now that the community water system will have to be upgraded to service the new Cape Roger Curtis neighbourhood, another group of cheerleaders will emerge to talk us into it.