West Âé¶čAV Council approved spending $2.5 million to fix source water quality problems in the Rose Valley Reservoir (RVR).
A vote to give a $50 credit to the 8,500 customers of the Rose Valley Water System failed. The credit would have refunded them for water used to flush the system. The credit amounted to approximately $425,000. Both the $2.5 million and the rebate were to come from the Rose Valley Water Reserve.
Council unanimously supported spending $2.5 million. However, the vote on the credit was tied, which meant it failed under local government rules. Councillors Rick de Jong, Carol Zannon, and Garrett Millsap opposed the credit. Councillor Tasha Da Silva missed the Tuesday (Nov. 26) meeting.
De Jong said he wasnât against refunds but wanted to seek government grants instead. âThatâs a true way to offset these costs for local residents,â he said. âRather than taking it from their pocket, giving it back now, and then taking it from their pocket again later.â
Chief Financial Officer Warren Everton said the Rose Valley Water Reserve has enough funds. âWe can easily handle this expenditure,â he told the council.
De Jong said spending the $2.5 million was the right decision for public safety. Mayor Gord Milsom agreed but supported the rebate as well. âI see no reason why it canât be done,â he said. âIt cost them money to help us do the job in flushing out those systems, so Iâm in favour of it.â
A staff report noted growing problems in the reservoir, including algae, turbidity, iron-related bacteria, and manganese. These caused brown, foul-smelling water for customers in recent months. The Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant tried several fixes with mixed results.
The $2.5 million will be spent on adding potassium permanganate, an oxidizing agent, to the water after it is drawn from the reservoir. This will allow the manganese to oxidize while the water is travelling to the treatment plant where it can be removed.
Council also heard about ongoing water quality problems in RVR. Heather Larrat, from Larrat Aquatic Consulting, explained the reservoir has a high risk of manganese levels exceeding acceptable limits every summer.
âWhen you have a warm water layer on top and a deep water layer underneath, the deep water canât access the atmosphere,â Larrat said. âDecomposition breaks down and consumes oxygen, which canât get replenished.â
She said can also rise in March due to long ice cover, algae, and bacteria. Larrat also spoke about damage to the watershed from the McDougall Creek wildfire.
âIt will take years to recover,â she said. âLiterally, itâs a worst-case scenario. The water treatment plant was incredibly timed -- without it, the community would have been exposed to the full force of this disaster.â
She urged council to renovate the reservoirâs aeration system, which helps reduce manganese levels. However, she cautioned that aeration alone might not fully solve the problem. âNo one can guarantee that restoring aeration will solve 100 percent of the manganese problem,â she said.
Larrat recommended correcting the aeration issues by the summer 2025. This would cut treatment costs and reduce the length and intensity of manganese spikes. She also warned that a heavy snowpack this winter could worsen spring runoff from burned areas around the watershed.
âWe will be in uncharted territory once again,â she said.
Larrat estimated it would take five years to recover from the wildfire damage. âIt will still affect water quality but not as badly as weâre experiencing now.â
City staff promised to closely monitor manganese levels, especially in spring and summer.
