Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | LGL Ltd. 2014. Fisheries component of aquatic effects assessment of proposed bulk water supply intake in Englishman River. Prepared for Englishman River Water Service. |
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| Organization | Englishman River Water Service |
| URL | http://www.englishmanriverwaterservice.ca/erws_documents/lgl_aquatic_effects_assessment.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Englishman River Water Service (ERWS) is a joint venture of the City of Parksville and the Regional District of Nanaimo formed to secure, treat and distribute water originating from the Englishman River for municipal drinking water supply. The bulk water supply from the river is intended to supplement existing supply sources owned and operated by the individual jurisdictions. An existing City of Parksville river intake downstream of Highway 19A currently extracts river water from the mainstem to supplement its well water supply during the peak demand period between June and October. The current project being proposed by ERWS is the construction of a new river intake and pump station, with construction of a water treatment plant (WTP) and associated water distribution system to follow in the future. The current population in the service area is ~17,500 full time residents with an additional ~10,400 part-time residents in the summer. It is estimated that by 2035 the population will have increased to ~24,290 full-time residents. The river intake and WTP form the final phase of a regional water supply strategy that was initiated in the 1970s. The first phase of the strategy was implemented through construction of the Arrowsmith Lake dam in the late 1990s which is used to supplement summer baseflows in Englishman River for water supply withdrawals and fisheries. Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) considers the proposed municipal water supply intake to be a new project in accordance with the Fisheries Act. To determine whether the project will cause serious harm to fish that support a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery, a project proposal will be submitted by ERWS to DFO for their review and decision pertaining to the necessity for a formal Authorization for the project under Section 35 of the Fisheries Act. Part of the ERWS proposal submission will include this Aquatic Effects Assessment which provides a summary of the fish habitat at the site, the potential fish habitat impacts caused by the project, and the measures proposed to mitigate the potential impacts. The assessment includes both the impacts of construction of the intake as well as downstream impacts relative to changes in flow as a result of water withdrawal during the operational stage. The assessment on the effects of flow changes on fish habitat is based on the projected water demand for the service area in 2035 (Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. 2014b). Therefore, the application for regulatory approvals for the proposed intake is based on a maximum water withdrawal rate of 28.8 MLD. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Vancouver Island South |
| Sub-watershed if known | Englishman River |
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| Project status | complete |
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