Now-Lost Wisdom of Master Water Plan 2002

...in an Addendum dated March 2004.

Only "snippets" of interest to Greater Vernon Water customers are included below.

The complete text of the Addendum (link provided at bottom) is proof of just how far Greater Vernon Water has strayed from what used to be a very good Master Water Plan. 

There are two major changes from the original MWP.

The first is that there will be two water treatment plants

(one on the Kalamalka Lake supply and

one on the Duteau Creek source),

instead of the single central plant.

The second is that the separation of the combined water distribution system will be phased over a longer period.

 

SAC members, please take note:

"In spite of all of the successes in implementing the plan to date, there has been one area of disappointment -- the lack of success in achieving senior government funding.  The GVW is still actively pursuing senior government funding and is confident that these additional dollars will be forthcoming at some point in the future.  In the short-term, however, it is necessary to change the direction of the plan in order to still achieve the critical health protection goals, while at the same time keeping water rate increases to an affordable level.

Why an Addendum?

While the original MWP provided a robust, flexible direction, the cost impacts in the next few years would be significant.  Proceeding with the plan was predicated on the receipt of capital grants from the senior levels of government and a willingness of GVW to increase water rates substantially in the near term.  In spite of the efforts by the GVW, by mid-2003, it was clear that senior government funding was not forthcoming in the near term.  The GVW needed to change direction.  In September 2003, the GVW Project Director, presented the Greater Vernon Services Commission (GVSC) Committee with a proposed water system development financing strategy that would reduce capital expenditures in the first phase of the work to the point where the utility would be "self funded" through water user rates.  The Committee agreed with this approach.

This addendum is intended to develop additional details on the revised direction and confirm that the first phase work can be accomplished with a reasonable increase in water rates over the next several years.

The use of two water supply sources provides flexibility and reliability.   In particular, the gravity flow potential of the Duteau Creek supply can be used to reduce supply power costs.

"This will increase the operating cost

of delivering domestic water in the short term."

Separation of the existing combined water system will provide the most cost effective water management in the long term.   With the increasing requirement for drinking water treatment, it does not make economic sense to treat the water going to irrigation.  Separation of the existing combined system into separate domestic water and irrigation water systems will allow the appropriate water quality to be applied to the end use.

There are two major changes from the original MWP.  The first is that there will be two water treatment plants (one on the Kalamalka Lake supply and one on the Duteau Creek source), instead of the single central plant.  The second is that the separation of the combined water distribution system will be phased over a longer period.  This means that all the water in the combined system will be treated to drinking water quality in the early years of the plan.  Full separation will occur in the second phase of the plan.

The main components of the revised regional water strategy are as follows:

1.  The new, enclosed McMechan Reservoir, currently under design, will be commissioned in early 2005.

2.  The Kalamalka Lake source will continue as one of the two domestic water sources.  The first phase of implementation will see ultraviolet disinfection added to reduce the public health risk quality associated with this water supply.  The treatment works will be located at the Mission Hill site the south side of the city.  The Phase I works will also include clearwell storage, secondary chlorination, and treated water pumping into the PZ 483 pressure zone.

3.  The second phase of water quality improvements on the Kalamalka Lake supply will consist of the addition of chemical coagulation and separation (filtration) processes to deal with the potential taste and odour problem and high turbidity.  This second phase work will not proceed until senior government funding is available.

4.  The capacity of the Kalamalka Lake supply system will be upgraded from the existing 30 ML/d to about 60 ML/d.

5.  A new water treatment plant will be constructed for the Duteau Creek supply.  The plant would be located in the eastern Coldstream Valley, west of the Duteau Creek Headgates.  This plant will have an initial capacity of about 160 ML/d.  It will direct treated water into the existing combined water distribution system.  Once separation of the combined water distribution system is complete, this plant will only provide water to the separated domestic water distribution system.
 
6.  The first phase of separation of the combined water system will focus on the Bella Vista - Swan Lake area, south of Goose Lake.  The Goose Lake reservoir will become part of the irrigation system.  This will allow a downsizing of the new water treatment plant, since the full initial capacity will not be required once separation of the combined water distribution system is complete.  At this point, it is expected that separation will be completed in the 2011 to 2021 time frame.

Summary

The original MWP was a sound direction that would have accomplished the regional water goals in a short time frame.  Unfortunately, without senior government funding, this scheme would put a significant financial burden on existing domestic water customers.

The new direction accomplishes the goal of reducing the capital expenditures in the initial phase of construction to an amount that can be funded without a significant water rate increase.  The expected capital expenditure in this first phase will be in the order of $35 million (in 2003 dollars) -- down from the original MWP spending of $72 million.  Has the need to spend the additional dollars disappeared?  No -- what the change has done is to shift some of the capital dollars into the future, where they can be funded by a larger water user base and, hopefully, by senior government funding.

The new direction requires that water quality improvements be achieved by treating a larger quantity of water in the near term -- water going to both domestic and irrigation use.  This will increase the operating cost of delivering domestic water in the short-term.  The overriding benefit, however, is that the overall strategy is more affordable to the existing water users -- a key factor in accomplishing the successful implementation of a regional water strategy.

The two key elements of the plan were the separation of irrigation and domestic water systems in the short term and the construction of a single, central water treatment plant to provide treated water to the domestic water distribution system.  Considerable progress has been made towards implementation of the plan over the last two years.  A new regional utility, Greater Vernon Water (GVW) has been formed and is functioning well.  Additional technical work to further refine the original plan has been carried out.

1.2 THE FORMAT

The original Master Water Plan was based on fourteen working papers that covered the various elements of the regional water plan.  The addendum process involved the preparation of a "fifteenth" working paper that followed the same format as the original work.

In spite of the efforts by the GVW, by mid-2003, it was clear that senior government funding was not forthcoming in the near term.  The GVW needed to change direction.  In September 2003, the GVW Project Director, presented the Greater Vernon Services Commission (GVSC) Committee with a proposed water system development financing strategy that would reduce capital expenditures in the first phase of the work to the point where the utility would be "self funded" through water user rates.  The Committee agreed with this approach.

Source Water Quality

More information is available on the two major sources - Duteau Creek and Kalamalka Lake.

The second...is that the large basin would not be needed after combined system separation.  This would result in a significant redundant capital cost.

With the emergence of the high-rate clarification processes, it is feasible to replace the large, earth basins with a very compact mechanical plant.  This will vastly improve the performance and allow the process to be more cost effectively integrated into the ultimate treatment plant, following the completion of system separation.

Water Distribution Separation

The additional hydraulic modeling and preliminary engineering analysis has looked at the details of combined water distribution system separation in much more depth than in the concept planning under the MWP.  The work to date has generally confirmed the accuracy of the originally estimated costs. 

Separation of the existing combined wsater system will provide the most cost effective water management in the long term.  Portions of the existing water distribution system serve both domestic and agricultural irrigation customers (termed the "combined system").  On an annual basis, approximately 80% of this water is used for irrigation of agricultural land.  With the increasing requirement for drinking water treatment, it does not make economic sense to treat the water going to irrigation.  Separation of the existing combined system into separate domestic water and irrigation water systems will allow the appropriate water quality to be applied to the end use.

Water treatment processes will include high-rate clarification, ultraviolet disinfection and secondary chlorination.  Once separation of the combined water distribution system is complete, this plant will only provide water to the separated domestic water distribution system.

The first phase of separation of the combined water system will focus on the Bella Vista - Swan Lake area, south of Goose Lake.  The Goose Lake reservoir will become part of the irrigation system.  It will no longer provide water for domestic use.  This will eliminate any potential public health risk associated with the open reservoir.  Separation of this area, along with other areas where irrigation supply can be provided by a local, untreated water source, will reduce the peak demands on the Duteau Creek supply.  This will allow a downsizing of the new water treatment plant, since the full initial capacity will not be required once separation of the combined water distribution system is complete.  Operating economics and the need to add filtration to the Duteau Creek supply will drive the timing of separation of the remaining combined system.  At this point, it is expected that separation will be completed in the 2011 to 2021 time frame.

The new direction accomplishes the goal of reducing the capital expenditures in the initial phase of construction to an amount that can be funded without a significant water rate increase.  The expected capital expenditure in this first phase will be in the order of $35 million (in 2003 dollars)- down from the original MWP spending of $72 million.  Has the need to spend the additional dollars disappeared?  No - what the change has done is to shift some of the capital dollars into the future, where they can be funded by a larger water user base and, hopefully, by senior government funding.

The new direction requires that water quality improvements be achieved by treating a larger quantity of water in the near term - water going to both domestic and irrigation use.  This will increase the operating cost of delivering domestic water in the short term.  The overriding benefit, however, is that the overall strategy is more affordable to the existing water users - a key factor in accomplishing the successful implementation of a regional water strategy.

A rather appropriate summation of Master Water Plan 2012

 

Full text of Master Water Plan Addendum March 2004 is here.  

"Is it still 'in the short term' if domestic water rates remain high for 14 years after the MWP was developed?"