| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Golder Associates Ltd. has developed a source watershed protection plan for the Greeley Creek drinking water source, which follows Modules 1, 2, 7, and 8 of the BC Comprehensive Drinking Water Source-to-Tap Assessment (CS2TA) Guideline and is required under the Provincial Drinking Water Protection Act for the City’s Permit to Operate. There are eight Modules under the CS2TA Guideline, but the objective of this plan is to address only those that characterize Greeley Creek and consider risks and recommendations for drinking water protection at the watershed level. The City’s water treatment and distribution, operations and maintenance, and finance and governance, which are the focus of Modules 3 through 6, are not considered or included as part of this Plan. Development of this Plan followed the general methods outlined in: (a) the Modules 1, 2, 7 and 8 of the CS2TA Guideline; and, (b) the requirements of the Request for Proposals issued by the City of Revelstoke, including a review of information regarding projected climate changes in the Columbia River basin to define a climate change scenario for the 2050s. The climate change scenario forms the basis for an assessment of potential climate change impacts to the water supply from the Greeley Creek Watershed. To supplement previously published regional scale climate change projections, Golder extracted more detailed data using the ClimateWNA software tool to consider projected climate variables within the watershed assessment area to the year 2050. The assessment of projected climate change impacts focused on the relevant Key Priority Impacts from Local Government listed in the City of Revelstoke Climate Adaptation Scanning and Planning Workshop. Golder conducted a review of available information in order to complete the watershed characterization and development of a preliminary hazard identification table, which was then updated to include input from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) following review of the draft report. Golder developed the hazard and risk matrix to qualitatively rank the watershed based on the available information reviewed based on qualitative criteria for each likelihood and consequence rating. These relative risk rankings were discussed during a meeting between Golder and the TAC following review of the draft report, and the risk rankings presented incorporate feedback from the TAC. Based on the risk characterization, for current conditions, the identified existing intrinsic and land use activity drinking water hazards, listed by relative risk, were: _ Very High Risk _ mass movements _ High Risk _ stream channel instability, and, climate change _ Moderate Risk _ wildfire, wildlife, and avalanches _ Low Risk _ windthrow, forest insects and disease, forestry, and ski recreation. Hazards related to potential future development were: _ High Risk _ other recreation (snowmobiling, hiking, mountain biking, ATVs, motorcycling and camping) _ Moderate Risk _ placer and mineral mining _ Low Risk _ roads and infrastructure and hydroelectric power generation. For the projected climate change scenario, the risk characterization for the identified existing intrinsic and land use drinking water hazards changed such that wildfire, wildlife and roads and infrastructure increased to high risk, and forests, insects and disease, forestry, and hydroelectric power generation increased to moderate risk. A set of recommended actions to improve drinking water protection (Module 8 of the CS2TA Guideline) were developed, with guidance from the TAC. The recommended actions for the City to consider include: 1) Conduct Assessment of Back-up Water Supply Elements 2) Implement Access Restrictions 3) Assess and Mitigate Wildfire Risks 4) Emergency Response 5) Institute Flow and Climate Monitoring Program within Greeley Creek WAA 6) Water Supply Management 7) Climate Adaptation 8) Long-term Monitoring of Terrain and Channel Stability 9) Development of Watershed Stakeholder Groups or Committees 10) Application for mineral, petroleum and coal no staking reserve. |
