Ucluelet is flushing out a plan to address a rising sewage capacity concern.
During their July 30 regular meeting, the town’s municipal council received a report from Director of Engineering Services James MacIntosh who said the limitation of the district’s aging sewage system could affect several proposed housing developments on the horizon.
He explained Ucluelet’s current system was constructed in the late 1970s and was initially designed to serve “a small, unincorporated village with a few hundred residents.”
“The town has, of course, grown around that system creating capacity concerns and issues,” he said.
A written report MacIntosh submitted alongside his presentation notes that the system now serves “2,100 permanent residents and an increasing number of seasonal visitors.”
He said a sanitary sewer master plan was completed last year and “seeks to address current issues and install infrastructure and sustainable and economically viable measures that promote growth and development within the community.”
His report lays out that the current system includes fourteen lift stations, approximately eight kilometers of gravity and pressurized mains, a sewage lagoon and an outfall.
The most pressing issue is that the town’s hill-filled terrain means lift stations are required to keep sewage pumping on course and several of those stations have reached or exceeded their capacity, according to MacIntosh.
He said a key area of concern encompasses the Municipal Hall, North of Peninsula Road and towards Minato Bay.
“That entire area is under really extreme sanitary sewer capacity limitations right now,” he said.
He said Hemlock Lift Station at the inner boat basin and two sewer mains in the area are currently operating “at or beyond capacity” and that Peninsula Road and Fraser Lane Lift Stations, located near the municipal hall, are nearing capacity.
“Infrastructure is at capacity and limiting upstream development as we speak and must be addressed,” he said. “We’ve included components of this infrastructure in our 20 year capital plan, but the extent and completeness of these upgrades are currently unfunded.”
He said the Official Community Plan foresaw growth stressing Ucluelet’s systems, but that growth was expected to be most significant at the former Wyndansea site on the outskirts of town. Development at that site has stalled though and the town’s actual growth has shifted towards Minato Bay, Peninsula Road and the inner harbour.
“That shift is threatening to create really extreme stress on this section of the sanitary sewer system that’s aged past its service life in some situations and well beyond its capacity pumping limitations,” he said.
He added staff are working through a “fairly significant” infrastructure upgrade proposal that will be presented to council in the fall.
He said the plan would include estimated costs, potential funding sources, timelines and the feasibility of an expedited plan that would allow council to approve development applications upstream of the current capacity concerns.
Coun. Shawn Anderson asked about the Hemlock Station running over capacity and whether another development could be approved in that area.
MacIntosh responded that his department would “be strongly against” any new developments there.
“We’re well beyond any comfortable measure that we would ever recommend pumping at and have been for close to 100-120 homes. It’s been operating like that for 8-10 years perhaps,” he said. “It hasn’t crept up on us, it’s been a very slow accumulation of capacity. I would say that we’re at our absolute limit of approving developments upstream of this system.”
He added that the district’s sewage lagoon also needs to be looked at as the town continues to grow.
“We do have room and availability in our lagoon, but with 200-300 home developments that are approaching us, we have to start talking about that, planning for it and we are,” he said.
Anderson noted several major developments are currently being proposed, including a 300-unit neighbourhood on Minato Road, a 73-lot development at Hyphocus Island, near the lagoon, and a 33-unit affordable housing community on Marine Drive.
Anderson said he had spoken with the team hoping to develop Hyphocus Island and that their engineers suggested the lagoon’s capacity is currently 80 per cent infiltration.
Infiltration and inflow occur when water that does not need to be treated leaks into the system.
MacIntosh responded by doubting the infiltration is that high, suggesting it’s likely closer to 50 per cent.
“It’s similar to other communities, but maybe a little bit more,” he said, reiterating that Ucluelet has a high number of lift stations due to its topography.
“We have an aged sanitary system with lots of openings and availability for water to inflow and infiltrate into that system. We have a plan to make a plan to address the inflow and infiltration.”
He added upgrades have occurred in recent years to fix the infiltration issue, citing a recent Bay Street lift station replacement as an example.
“The scope and breadth of an inflow and infiltration program is a long-term plan that we need to get on top of and really continue to identify and knock down where those leaks are,” he said.
“To approve this large of developments, physical infrastructure has to be upgraded and installed. A companion project with that is to reduce water flowing into the system, which is a best practice, good to have and something we must be doing.”
Anderson asked whether the district could eliminate the 50 per cent infiltration issue to expand the lagoon’s capacity.
“Is it impossible to get rid of all inflow or is it a goal that we attain that we can get rid of this and have more capacity to grow before we have to replace that system?” he asked.
MacIntosh responded that “getting down to zero is impossible,” suggesting most communities have similar 50 per cent infiltration levels as Ucluelet.
“A goal is just to be proactive, always be inspecting the infrastructure every year and then be doing capital projects to reduce where leaks, openings and inefficiencies are,” he said, adding the process is ongoing. “You install a little bit of new infrastructure and in a couple years it starts to leak, so we just keep working through that program.”
Mayor Marilyn McEwen suggested there is “little to no chance” of Ucluelet scoring a provincial or federal funding grant to cover the costs of repairing ageing infrastructure and MacIntosh agreed.
“The grants are generally aimed for new and shiny pieces of infrastructure, not often for replacing old and aged infrastructure,” MacIntosh said.
“That said, there’s a lot of grants out there right now and will continue to be. The funding strategy that we’re bringing to council in the autumn will have several options of how to address this, from borrowing, to taxes, to grants, to development cost charges, to specific agreements with developers…That whole suite of tools, I think, will be presented to council here for consideration.”
Anderson noted Ucluelet’s system also serves the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet First Nation) community of Hitacu and asked if there were potential partnerships to upgrade the lagoon.
“Eventually, we have to think about doing an entirely new system down there,” he said.
MacIntosh said there are opportunities to partner and he has been in talks with Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government about their expected growth.
“As they grow and expand, of course, it puts additional pressure on our system as well,” he said.
“We’re well in-tune, or as much as we can be at this point, with how much they are growing. I think it’s a conversation for council to consider…At this point, partnering or leveraging to have a regional shared solution to come together at the table and upgrade our whole sanitary sewer system, or components of it, is something that we haven’t really discussed in detail yet. We certainly could, under council’s direction.”
McEwen said she looked forward to seeing staff’s report and recommendations in the fall.
