The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has adjusted the date to have the up to five million litres of water per day from the Church Road well field available to help quench the thirst of its Chapman Water System.
“Before summer, and specifically before Stage 2 water conservation regulations that will be put in place once the SCRD begins relying on stored water in its reservoirs (Chapman and Edwards Lake),” is the new target according to a Feb. 13 email from the regional district’s communications department.
Stage 2 restrictions on the Chapman system, which provides potable water to about 90 per cent of the SCRD's water customers in areas from Halfmoon Bay to West Howe Sound, were put in place as early as June 8 in 2019 and June 9 in 2015. Last year, it was moved to that level on July 28. Restrictions have progressed to Stage 3 in each of the past eight years, and to Stage 4 in four of those.
On March 8, one year will have passed since the project’s ground-breaking ceremony. When construction started, the SCRD had estimated the well field could be online in 2022. Supply chain issues and problems with the soil beneath the treatment plant building delayed that timeline and bumped project costs up to $9.27 million.
Water licence addition pending
Before the well field can be put into operation, the SCRD’s water licence for the site must be supported by an adaptive management plan for Soames Creek.
The SCRD’s email stated it is working with its contractors to complete this plan by a target date of May 1 and that it will “work with the province to ensure this project remains a high priority”. Plan development involves a flow assessment of the creek during low flow periods as well as a habitat assessment for aquatic species including fish and amphibians. In the coming weeks, “the SCRD will install a weir to regulate the flow in Soames Creek and install a permanent hydrometric staItion to replace the existing temporary flow meter. This work is related to long-term flow monitoring requirements to ensure the project does not negatively impact Soames Creek,” the email said.
Once the plan is completed, the SCRD will forward it to the province for approval and the establishment of the environmental flow needs that will need to be maintained in the creek.
The SCRD's initial water licence application for the site was submitted in October 2019, and the licence was approved Dec. 17, 2021.
Testing at the site continues
At the Feb. 9 SCRD committee of the whole meeting, staff confirmed that all equipment required for the well field’s pumping infrastructure was onsite and installed.
The SCRD’s email noted the commissioning work at the site was continuing with staff testing to confirm the installations meet the specifications and requirements. “These projects are not a one-size-fits-all, and infrastructure and the electronics need to be set up and programmed appropriately. The next step is to run a longer pump test, for 80 hours, to again verify that the equipment has been installed correctly and there are no deficiencies." Timelines for testing completion were not provided.
