Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Compass Resource Management Ltd. 2012. Consultative Committee Report: Capilano - Seymour Joint Water Use Plan, A Project of Metro Vancouver. Prepared for The Consultative Committee for the Capilano - Seymour Joint Water Use Plan. |
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| Organization | Metro Vancouver |
| URL | http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/water/WaterPublications/JWUPCCSummaryReport-Final.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | On July 19th, 2012 the Consultative Committee of the Joint Capilano – Seymour Water Use Plan (JWUP) reached consensus1 and unanimously endorsed a package of water management recommendations for Metro Vancouver’s existing water control structures and proposed hydropower facilities that are being contemplated for Cleveland Dam and Seymour Falls Dam. The endorsed JWUP Package includes operational recommendations for the timing and volume of water to be released from the dams, what studies and monitoring should be carried out during the implementation of the plan, design considerations for developing hydropower, when the components of the plan would be implemented, and a series of non-flow options that were agreed to. The JWUP Consultative Committee process was initiated in January 2011 and completed in July 2012. The process followed the steps outlined in the Province’s Water Use Plan Guidelines. The purpose of this Summary Report is to document the consultative process and present the recommendations of the JWUP Consultative Committee (CC). The interests and values expressed in this report will be used by Metro Vancouver to prepare the Capilano Seymour Draft Joint Water Use Plan. Both this CC Summary Report and Metro Vancouver’s Draft JWUP will be submitted to the Comptroller of Water Rights for review and approval. Water Use Plans Water use planning was first introduced in the province of BC in 1996 as a way to help clarify how rights to provincial water resources should be exercised and to ensure provincial water management decisions reflect current public values related to social, environmental, and financial priorities. A Water Use Plan (WUP) is a technical document that, once reviewed by provincial and federal agencies and authorized by the provincial Comptroller of Water Rights, defines how water control facilities will be operated. The purpose of a water use planning process is to develop recommendations defining a preferred operating strategy informed through a multi-stakeholder consultative process. Metro Vancouver Joint Water Use Plan Metro Vancouver is developing a JWUP for the Seymour and Capilano Watersheds. This JWUP is about how the reservoirs and dams are operated, how water is released from the reservoirs and allocated for different uses (as examples: drinking water, fisheries habitat, proposed power generation, etc.). This plan will guide sustainable management of these important water resources. The planning process will also explore whether generating renewable hydropower from the existing reservoirs can be accommodated within Metro Vancouver’s commitment to: continue to supply clean, safe drinking water, protect fish habitat, adapt to climate variability and climate change, and provide benefits to other community interests such as recreation, culture and heritage, and safety within the context of the planning process. For Metro Vancouver’s JWUP project the scope is broader than a typical WUP, as it includes consideration of water management effects associated with building possible hydropower facilities and consideration of seeking long term solutions for some historical issues associated with the construction of the original facilities (such as fish passage at Cleveland Dam). Capilano and Seymour Systems Situated on the North Shore (within the South Coast Mountains), the Capilano and Seymour reservoirs provide about two thirds of the water for Metro Vancouver’s domestic water supply system. The Capilano system consists of a reservoir behind Cleveland Dam, and Palisade Alpine Reservoir located in the upper watershed. The Seymour system includes a reservoir behind Seymour Falls Dam, and two alpine reservoirs in the upper watershed (Burwell and Loch Lomond). Both systems have fish hatcheries located in the lower rivers. In addition, the recently completed Seymour Filtration Plant is located adjacent to the lower Seymour River. The two systems are also in the process of being connected via the Twin Tunnel Projects (discussed later in this document). The management of water at both Capilano and Seymour Reservoirs follows a normal pattern being close to full during the fall, winter and spring months. During these periods the reservoirs fill to their maximum storage capacity with large amounts of water spilling from each reservoir (in the fall and winter as a result of rain storms, and in the spring mostly a result of snowmelt waters). During times when there is no spilling from the reservoirs, both dams release base flows (minimum flows) to the lower rivers for fish and ecological purposes year round. The proposed hydropower projects are envisaged to make use of the existing dam infrastructure to produce electricity from water that would otherwise spill from the reservoirs. Energy generation from these proposed developments would be considered the 3 rd priority for the water stored in the reservoirs after drinking water supply and environmental fish flows are provided for. Consultative Committee A Consultative Committee was struck and held their first meeting in January 2011. The CC consisted of 14 members (plus alternates) representing a broad cross section of potentially affected interests from government agencies; First Nations; community, recreational and environmental associations; and relevant Metro Vancouver municipalities. The CC held 8 meetings between January 2011 and July 2012 and was supported by two technical working groups – fish and recreation – who met for a total of 20 meetings during that same period. As well, an interagency JWUP Steering Committee met on an as needed basis to provide direction on any scope and schedule issues that were raised during the process. The mandate of the CC was to identify and explore water use options and alternatives to current operating practices, and collaboratively develop recommendations for consideration by Metro Vancouver when preparing the JWUP for operation of the Capilano and Seymour water control facilities. JWUP Planning Process The planning process for the CC followed a structured and iterative path consistent with the steps outlined in the provincial WUP guidelines and included: defining water use issues and objectives (Step 4), collecting data on water use impacts (Step 5), creating operating alternatives (Step 6), assessing trade-offs between the alternatives (Step 7) with the aim of reaching consensus on a preferred alternative and documenting the outcomes (Step 8). Issues, Objectives and Performance Measures A preliminary list of issues and interests potentially affected by changes to water conditions in the watersheds was developed early in the process and these issues were updated and added to throughout the process. The issues were organized according to the following topic areas: Culture and Heritage Drinking Water and Operations Fish Hydropower Financial Recreation Safety Climate Change Mitigation From the issues list, the CC developed a set of fundamental objectives that were used to guide the planning process. Performance measures were used to assess how well the water management options were meeting the objectives. A number of studies and analyses were undertaken to assist in the scoping of issues and in the development of meaningful performance measures. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Lower Fraser |
| Sub-watershed if known | Capilano, Seymour |
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