Press Release: RDOS Abandons Wetland Project

This situation was quickly rectified after the following press release was issued! Please read Wetland Plan for Vaseux Lake Approved

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Norm Gaumont
Organization: Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association
Website: http://vaseuxlake.com

On October 19th, 2017, without consulting stakeholders such as the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association, the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) decided to abandon plans for final cleansing of effluents released from the Okanagan Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant through a wetland project, and instead allocate those funds to taking wastewater from the communities of Kaleden and Skaha Estates to the treatment plant’s operation.

The RDOS justified its decision to eliminate final cleansing of effluents by stating that the treatment plant is meeting provincial regulations.  However, a September 2016 RDOS Public Works Department memorandum clearly states that the plant failed to meet permitted levels during its first two years of operation and was barely meeting nitrate levels in the 3rd year.

Particularly ironic, is the fact that five years ago, Wildlife Canada refused to allow effluents from the Okanagan Falls Treatment Plant go through their bird sanctuary due to concerns about pollution and its effects on amphibians and invertebrates.  In response, the RDOS purchased land in 2015 to mitigate those effects by creating a wetland outside Wildlife Canada Bird Sanctuary, but instead are now happy to keep dumping the effluent directly into Vaseux Lake — the same effluents that Wildlife Canada refused to accept.

To emphasize the nonsensical nature of this decision, the Okanagan Basin Water Board has been reluctant to approve the use of a rototiller in the lake to combat the milfoil problem; since Dr. Jeff Curtis at UBC Okanagan indicates there is a possibility for the release of lead, arsenic, nitrate, and phosphorus and other chemicals, which could lead to toxic bacteria and algae growth affecting not only Vaseux Lake but downstream water bodies as well.  Yet the RDOS is prepared to dump more of these heavy metals and chemical inhibitors directly into Vaseux Lake by connecting sewage from the communities of Kaleden and Skaha Estates through the Okanagan Falls Treatment Plant.

The Okanagan Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant cannot be compared to treatment plants in Penticton, Kelowna, Peachland or Summerland; as those plants dump effluents into much larger bodies of water where pollutants such as heavy metals and chemical inhibitors are diluted and settle in deep water.  Vaseux Lake, on the other hand, is a small shallow lake where the addition of heavy metals, chemical inhibitors, nitrates and phosphates has serious consequences. Furthermore, Vaseux Lake is under pressure from heavy siltation caused by failure to dredge Shuttleworth Creek over a 15 year period prior to 2014, leaving the lake’s north end very shallow and even more susceptible to pollution.

Considering those facts, plus the intention of adding two more communities to the plant, it is absolutely essential that the effluents be cleansed through a wetland.

Funding for the wetland was provided in 2012, the land was purchased in 2015, and the RDOS created a preliminary wetland design; but nothing else was done to move this project forward.  Funding for the project is set to expire in September 2018. If that happens, it will be directly attributable to negligence on the part of the RDOS for failing to act on this initiative over a six-year period.

The Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association would like to thank both RDOS directors Tom Siddon and Terry Schafer who represented the environmental interests of Vaseux Lake at the RDOS board meeting on the 19th of October and were able to preserve the funding associated with creating the wetland.  It is hoped that the RDOS will now work in good faith to expedite the creation of the wetland for the final cleansing of effluents as first planned five years ago, prior to adding any more communities to the treatment plant.

In future, the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association expects to be consulted regarding decisions directly affecting Vaseux Lake, and in particular with respect to matters concerning the Okanagan Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Norm Gaumont – Chair
Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association