February 20, 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETS 22 FEB
CLIMATE CHANGE MAKING FOR MORE LOW-OXYGEN ZONES OFF BC COAST, SAYS EXPERT
VICTORIA INFRASTRUCTURE 'DEFICIT' LESS THAN EXPECTED (sewage costs related to volume)

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETS 22 FEB

Notice of Meeting on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 9:30 am
Board Room, 6th floor, 625 Fisgard Street, Victoria, BC

AGENDA EXCERPT:

8. Community Energy and Heat Recovery from Wastewater and Potable Water – Presentation by Dan Telford, CRD Environmental Engineering

9. #EEE 12-11 Core Area Inflow and Infiltration Management Plan
Report: Item 09 #EEE 12-11 Core Area Inflow and Infiltration Management Plan  

10. #EHQ 12-14 General Manager’s Report
Report: Item 10 #EHQ 12-14 General Manager's Report  


17. Next Meeting: Wed., March 28, 2012 @ 9:30 am


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ARESST: While CRD's latest annual report on our sewage outfalls have noted Macaulay mussle problems, reticence of CRD researcher Chris Lowe to attribute the problem to the outfall itself might have been in part because of UBC zoologoist Chris Harley's recent revelation that mussles are having problems generally in the area. Looks like Scripts researcher Levin below has something to contribute as well.

CLIMATE CHANGE MAKING FOR MORE LOW-OXYGEN ZONES OFF BC COAST, SAYS EXPERT
 
LARRY PYNN
POSTMEDIA NEWS 
FEBRUARY 17, 2012
  
VANCOUVER - The warming of the world's oceans due to climate change is resulting in an expansion of low-oxygen zones, negatively affecting marine life, such as groundfish, off the British Columbia coast, according to a U.S. expert.

``Pacific groundfish distributions have changed in recent years,'' said Lisa Levin, a marine scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. ``They're moving shallower and further northward in response to declining oxygen levels.''

Predictions are that these fish will have lost 50 per cent of their depth range by 2050, she said, citing research by Canada's Fisheries Department. ``They're losing their habitat and it's significant.''

Levin, speaking in Vancouver at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said that human activities, such as oil and gas extraction, commercial trawling, and mining can worsen the effects of global warming and must be carefully managed.

She said warming of the oceans is leading to an expansion of mid-water low-oxygen bands found on the ``continental margins,'' areas that extend more than 150,000 kilometres around the edges of continents.

``We call it habitat compression,'' she said Friday, noting fish affected could fall victim to overfishing.

Biodiversity is low in these low-oxygen bands, which are typified in part by poor water circulation. Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water; warming of the oceans also results in a reduction in upwelling.

Research also shows that some species found near the ocean surface are likely to expand their range into deeper water as the oceans warm and that these species are capable of withstanding greater water pressure.


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ARESST: Excerpt from news below: 
“As we move forward [sic] with sewage treatment, it’s going to be a challenge, because 
we’ll be charged by the amount of volume,” said Dwayne Kalynchuk.

VICTORIA INFRASTRUCTURE 'DEFICIT' LESS THAN EXPECTED

Roszan Holmen
Victoria News
February 16, 2012

Despite a couple of bad-news stories of late about crumbling city infrastructure, city staff reported a “good news” outlook for council and taxpayers Tuesday.

Finance director Brenda Warner presented a balanced 20-year draft capital plan.

“Not a lot of municipalities have a 20-year capital plan,” she said. “It is a good-news story.”

The outlook has changed a bit since last year.

At that time, Warner identified an annual $10-million shortfall in the city’s ability to maintain its assets, due to years of deferring those costs.

The new annual shortfall hasn’t yet been calculated, but promises to be lower, thanks to the results of an extensive survey of the city’s underground infrastructure.

A scan by CCTV cameras revealed storm and sanitary mains previously assumed to be in poor condition turned out to be in fair condition.

“We’re finding that they’re actually in better shape than we anticipated,” said Dwayne Kalynchuk, the City of Victoria’s director of engineering and public works.

What the revelation means to the city’s estimated $500-million infrastructure deficit will be known by May.

It’s a number Warner hesitates to share.

“We don’t like to put out that number. It looks like the sky is falling,” she said. Important to note is that senior levels of government will assume a portion of this cost, through infrastructure grants.

The city is also taking steps to address its infrastructure deficit.

Every year, revenue from a 1.5 per cent property tax hike is transferred to the infrastructure reserves.

The reserve funds, however, aren’t keeping up to the need.

That’s particularly true of the buildings and infrastructure reserve fund, which sits at $23 million.

The amount falls seriously short of impending demands, including $58 million for Crystal Pool and $16.5 million for the main fire hall. In late 2011, news broke about the poor state of the both these facilities, fueling an election debate about the so-called “infrastructure crisis.”

Neither of these projects are included in the city’s 20-year capital plan, poking at least one significant hole in the good news story.

In total, $143 million worth of capital costs have been identified as “unfunded” in the $890-million plan.

Did you know?

Over the past year, the City of Victoria has been inspecting its underground pipes with CCTV cameras. They’ve discovered many things.

Of the city’s 255 kilometres of storm mains and 241 kilometres of sanitary mains, 11 per cent and eight per cent are in poor condition, respectively.

A sanitary main in poor condition means rain water seeps into cracks in the pipes, and it’s a problem that’s about to get more expensive.

“As we move forward with sewage treatment, it’s going to be a challenge, because we’ll be charged by the amount of volume,” said Dwayne Kalynchuk.

At a glance

In 2012, Victoria is projected to:

- contribute $10.8 million to its reserve fund, but withdraw $21.2 million from the fund.

- pay $7.8 million in debt servicing costs. By 2026, the amount is projected to decrease to $6.2 million.

http://www.vicnews.com/news/139404738.html

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