Water is gold as a city emerges on Silver Star?

December 8, 2007 By Don Elzer The Other Beaver

In the North Okanagan we have an issue that appears to be flying under the radar and it’s one that strikes at the core of community planning and habitat protection. Silver Star Resort has been trying to construct a water reservoir on the mountain large enough to sustain 16,000 people, and there are additional wells that will accommodate even more people. At this point, should we ponder that the housing and services required to accommodate such a population is going far beyond the scope of resort planning on the mountain and is now moving into the realm of constructing a city up there, complete with the potential sprawl that plagues us at the valley bottom.Giving developers free rein as long as they can prove water and convince local government to carry the ongoing burden of such services is running rampant through the Okanagan.

Resorts such as Silver Star are important to our community, we recognize their contribution to the local economy and to the endless recreational services they provide residents and visitors. But one local decision maker summed it up well when he told me, “It’s expected that developers will do everything they can to make their project happen, we’ve come to expect that, but it’s up to local government to watch them and regulate whenever there is a need.” A year ago Silver Star Resorts took it upon themselves to build a dam in order to create the water reservoir that would allow the resort to proceed with new development at the ski hill.However it was not to be, in January the North Okanagan Regional District and the provincial government discovered that no water license was approved for the project. At that point the public learned about a provincial stop work order on the project.

The provincial Ministry of Environment issued the order with a ministry spokesperson saying that an unlicensed dam can pose a threat to the public. "Public safety was our primary concern,“ said Craig Beeson of the ministry's water stewardship division. "They shouldn't have started without first submitting an application." Beeson said that regulations require that developers must apply for a license first and then apply for a leave of construction as a second step.The ministry found the project was already underway through ’word of mouth,' Beeson said. The reservoir is at Vance Creek overlooking Lumby and Beeson said some homes in the area were put at risk. “If the dam had filled and then failed there is always the risk of property damage or injuries," he said.

Last January, the Environment Ministry expected to decide within six weeks if Silver Star's new reservoir could proceed or not.Technical Officer Mike Edwards said their review would include how much water is available and what the impact will be downstream on other licensees and fish habitat. He also said the Conservation Service is investigating to see if charges under the province's Water Act are warranted against the resort, for proceeding with the project before getting approval. That was a year ago, and now the resort is complaining that they don’t have a water license approved, development is on hold and that NORD is to blame. Now NORD appears to be scurrying to accommodate the resorts wishes. Area D director Rick Fairbairn represents the part of NORD, which has residents who live below the reservoir and who have existing water licenses. Those residents have a say in any additional water license that may be applied for within the Vance Creek drainage. Were those residents informed of the reservoir before the province blew the whistle?

“I know the water users in the Vance Creek watershed have had problems with the reservoir proposal and have made a comprehensive request to the province stating concerns, I believe an evaluation has been completed but I have no confirmation if the province has responded to them,” said Fairbairn.There really appears to be a lack of public process on this issue, which is odd since at the end of the day, it’s our local government that will be required to take ownership of this reservoir or any other water system that is built by the developer. At the time, Silver Star general manager Michael Sherwood said a water license application was made in September of 2006 and they were waiting for government approval. He said the lack of a license was the only thing standing in the way of opening the reservoir.

Sherwood said the reservoir is an important part of the future of Silver Star. The increased water capacity of the new reservoir will allow more accommodations to be built at the resort.At the time he didn’t know how long the water license approval would take but believed the typical time period for the approval process can vary from months to years. The engineer for the reservoir told the ministry that it was too dangerous to leave the project unfinished and so they were allowed to finish the dam. Beeson said Silver Star is not permitted to fill the reservoir with water and must provide weekly updates. "They have been complying with the order to not fill the dam," he said.

The delay in providing the license is no doubt part of a bigger picture problem facing the entire Okanagan valley, an ever-expanding population with a limited amount of water.This issue has to become a more public process; the new reservoir would represent the second on the mountain that depends on snowmelt. Is there enough snowmelt to serve 16,000 plus people while sustaining traditional users in the watershed? Even when we consider that water use might be all about us, it’s clearly not.Extreme interference with runoff will impact our aquifers, wetlands and our creek levels, and how will that impact habitat here. So let’s ask the big question that needs to be asked. Do we want a city at the top of Silver Star Mountain?