Decision will help SCRD to find ways to supplement water supply from Chapman Lake; water still needs to be chlorinated
By Margot Grant
In a surprising move May 20, Gibsons council has decided to provide the whole town with water from the aquifer. Currently, part of the town uses water from Chapman Lake. Work to make the change will begin this year and is expected to cost approximately $2.1 million.
In a letter to a local newspaper March 15, Mayor Wayne Rowe still said “the Town’s Aquifer Mapping Study has determined that the Gibsons aquifer has enough water to supply the ultimate population of Zones 1 and 2 only.” The mayor did not attend the March 20 meeting.
Aquifer water will be used for Gibsons average daily demand and maximum daily demand. The town will still rely on the SCRD, which draws it water from Chapman Lake, for peak-hour use, emergency storage, and fire flow, but it will reduce its use of water from the SCRD by as much 98 per cent. Until now, the town relied on SCRD water for zone 3 because of uncertainty about the capacity of the aquifer, lack of infrastructure and because reliance on a single water source was perceived to be risky.
However, the success of the town’s water-metering program has made it possible to supply all of the town with aquifer water, says director of infrastructure services Dave Newman. Between 2015 and 2017, the town used 50 per cent less water annually than in 2009, and Newman adds that with these savings, it is likely the aquifer can sustain 7,300 or even 10,000 residents, although monitoring of the aquifer is paramount.
The town will issue a request for proposals for the siting of several monitoring wells and the design for a proposed pump station and supply well. Newman says design of the system, well siting and installation of monitoring wells would cost about $325,000; the pump station has an estimated cost of $1,025,000, including an allowance for water main replacement, and the supply well would cost about $750,000, for a total of about $2.1 million. In the staff report for the meeting, the cost was estimated at about $1,950,000.
The town has bought water for zone 3 from the SCRD since 2013, and it is expected that the savings on these water purchases will offset part of the cost of the new installation. The water in zone 3 will need to continue to be chlorinated. The total cost will be included in the town’s budget, which has not been approved yet.
The Town has applied to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNRO) for groundwater licensing of 1.2 million cubic metres of water, which would serve close 10,000 residents should the aquifer prove equal to the task. FLNRO has approved the application, but has not yet approved a licence.