The City of Vernon is located in the hub of a unique corner of the Okanagan Basin, with a significant hydrologic system that includes four lakes (Okanagan, Kalamalka, Swan and Goose), three creeks (Vernon, Coldstream and BX),the Duteau Watershed and various streams, ponds and wetlands.
To help protect this invaluable resource, the City of Vernon developed its first Liquid Waste Management Plan in 1999. The plan is being updated to reflect current social, environmental and economic interests and objectives.
Elected officials and City staff are keen to improve stormwater management and wastewater collection, pre-treatment, treatment, reuse, storage, effluent disposal and biosolids, recognizing that an updated plan and the resulting policies, practices and projects will improve the quality of area streams, lakes and agricultural lands now and into the future.
A long-term Ministry of Environment goal is to prevent all pollution from wastewater sources. To that end, the province works with local governments to help them adopt proactive pollution-prevention principles and practices, best available pollution-control technologies, and polluter-pay policies and fees.
Since its first LWMP was developed a decade ago, the City of Vernon has focused on the 5Rs of wastewater management: reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, and research. It's expected that the current LWMP process will further help the City and other key stakeholders:
- explore water and wastewater management challenges and options through a watershed lens
- investigate options for minimizing wastewater contamination
- maximize collection system capacities
- identify and leverage opportunities for expanded reuse of wastewater effluent and municipal sewage sludge
- optimize stormwater management practices and programs.
Participants will use best practices and information about innovative pollution-prevention technologies and polluter-pay principles to drive the complex option evaluation process.
Why should you participate in the update of the plan?
A LWMP is most effective if area residents are involved in its development and implementation. In this case, a citizen-driven process will not only ensure a plan reflects residents' wants and needs, but will contribute to the long-term social, environmental, and economic health of the region.
By establishing advisory committees involving representatives from various geographic areas, interest groups, and senior government agencies, the City of Vernon confirms that stakeholder involvement - and, ultimately, public input and support - is critical to the success of its plan. These committees - the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) - will oversee plan development, review the resulting recommendations, and ensure comprehensive public participation throughout the process.
The City of Vernon will keep you abreast of the LWMP Update process via its website, newspaper articles and ads, and newsletters. It will also provide a variety of opportunities for input at public meetings and open houses, and through surveys.
How will the LWMP Update process unfold?
In Stage 1 of the three-part LWMP process, advisory committee members, City staff, and the public will identify current wastewater challenges and explore potential solutions relating to the aforementioned watercourses and surrounding lands. To that end, project consultant Urban Systems Ltd. will:
- conduct a land use and community growth overview
- assess the City's effluent disposal program
- review current operations at the Vernon Water Reclamation Centre
- review biosolids management practices
- assess stormwater management practices.
The resulting findings will drive committee discussion regarding potential wastewater treatment options and preliminary order-of-magnitude costing. At this point, public input will be encouraged via the City's website and a newsletter and survey. The research findings, committee discussions and public feedback will guide development of the Stage 1 Report, which, after being adopted by City council and approved by BC's Ministry of Environment (MoE), will usher in the second phase.
During Stage 2, participants will identify and further examine wastewater management options considered effective, affordable and environmentally beneficial by advisory committee members. Again, public input will be encouraged via the City's website, a newsletter and an open house. The resulting Stage 2 Report - which will outline the selected option(s), along with estimated life-cycle costs - will then be adopted by council and approved by MoE.
Stage 3, and the subsequent final report, will present the selected option(s), discharge standards and implementation and funding strategies and schedules. When adopted by council and approved by MoE, the final report will be considered Vernon's new LWMP.
For more information, contact:
Joanne de Vries at 250-766-1777 or
vernonLWMP@urban-systems.com
What is a Liquid Waste Management Plan?
A Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) charts a community's future course of action for managing stormwater, collecting, and treating sewage and other wastewaters, and for disposing of or reusing wastewater effluent. To help a community meet its wastewater objectives, a LWMP can also recommend lot sizes, zoning constraints in unsewered areas, water conservation programs, and public education programs for improving septic system performance.
BC's Environmental Management Act allows regional districts and municipalities to develop LWMPs for approval by the Minister of Environment. Used as a tool to develop effective and affordable solutions to local liquid waste challenges, a LWMP enables a community to:
- protect human and environmental health
- develop strategies to minimize wastewater generation
- meet water conservation goals
- prohibit discharge of effluent to lakes from private sources
- maximize use of reclaimed water
- provide access to available senior government funding.
It also helps a community protect its financial investment in wastewater infrastructure by creating proactive solutions rather than reacting to problems as they arise. The planning horizon can be 20-40 years.
The provincial Ministries of Environment and Health encourage LWMPs, particularly for rural areas that utilize onsite wastewater treatment and disposal systems such as septic tanks. Regional or municipal governments are requested to engage in a three-phase process that:
- investigates existing conditions and identifies problem areas
- identifies and researches potential improvements
- provides detailed technical and costing information for the most socially, environmentally, and economically acceptable wastewater management solutions.
Public participation is essential for the development of an effective LWMP, especially considering that any resulting recommendations will be funded by residents living within the plan area. In Vernon's case, recruited residents/stakeholders sit on either a Technical Advisory Committee or a Local Advisory Committee, while the public at large is encouraged to attend open meetings and open houses, and to provide input via surveys.
How is Vernon wastewater managed now?
The City of Vernon's Operation Services Division is responsible for the treatment and beneficial reuse of all residential, commercial and industrial sewage generated in Vernon, parts of Coldstream, Okanagan Landing and Blue Jay Subdivision. About 95 percent of properties are sewered; the rest rely on septic tanks for wastewater treatment.
Wastewater is directed to the Vernon Water Reclamation Centre (VWRC), which was updated in 2006 and currently treats about 13 million litres daily from 50,000 people in Vernon and part of Coldstream. Wastewater undergoes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment. Solids from primary treatment are fermented and digested, while secondary solids are thickened. Blended primary and secondary solids are then dewatered and composted. The final product is rich in nutrients and sold commercially as OGO-GROW(TM) . .
Reclaimed water - the end product of wastewater treatment - is pumped seven kilometres to the MacKay Reservoir on Commonage Road. From late April to early October, reclaimed water is drawn from the reservoir, chlorinated then used to irrigate about 970 hectares in the Commonage area south of Vernon, including Predator Ridge Golf Resort, Vernon Golf & Country Club, Vernon Seed Orchard, Kalamalka Forestry Centre and Pacific Regeneration's Vernon Nursery. The Spray Irrigation Program also includes large tracts of agricultural land used for grazing and hay production.
Advisory Committees & Members
As part of its Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) Update, the City of Vernon is establishing two advisory bodies to help guide the development of the plan.
TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will work with project consultant Urban Systems and City of Vernon staff to pinpoint existing wastewater management challenges and to identify and evaluate potential treatment options. The TAC will meet separately and with the LAC several times throughout the process.
PROPOSED TAC MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Agricultural Land Commission
City of Kelowna
City of Vernon
District of Coldstream
Environment Canada
Fisheries & Oceans Canada
Interior Health
Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
Ministry of Community & Rural Development
Ministry of Environment
Ministry of Forests and Range
Okanagan Indian Band
Regional District of North Okanagan
LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Local Advisory Committee (LAC) - with diverse representation from all sectors - reviews and provides feedback on wastewater management challenges and options presented by the TAC, contributes to the development of the overall plan, and ensures that proposed policies, practices, programs, and projects are in the best interests of all Vernon residents. Another LAC responsibility is to ensure healthy public participation throughout the three-part process.
PROPOSED LAC MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Allan Brooks Nature Centre
Chamber of Commerce
City of Vernon (staff and one councillor)
City of Vernon Environmental Advisory Committee
Coldstream Ranch
Department of National Defence
Greater Vernon Parks & Recreation
North Okanagan Naturalists Club
Okanagan Basin Water Board
Okanagan Spring Brewery
Okanagan Tree Fruit Cooperative
Predator Ridge
School District 22
Urban Development Institute
Vernon Fish & Game Club
For more information, contact:
Joanne de Vries at 250-766-1777 or
vernonLWMP@urban-systems.com
