At times, one must wonder how the powers work in the running
of our fair city and where knowledge of the concept known as, 'cause and effect', might lay.
Six months after one council is tossed out and
blamed for poor decision making another debacle is in the making at Elizabeth Lake.
To add insult to injury, one year after Elizabeth Lake and
the surrounding park and properties were flooded for an entire summer, after
volunteers have repaired the paths and after the creek channel has been cleared
of debris to enable it to flow freely once more, a decision is made to test
city wells in the area and pump them of their water for several days allowing
the water to flow unchecked down the paths of least resistance.
No matter that this could be a year in which we are short of
water, no matter that the paths of least resistance just happen to be the same park’s
newly volunteer repaired trails, no matter
that there is no warning for tourists coming in from the visitor information booth or
elsewhere, no matter that the newly cleared creek channel is now filled with
milky white water and considerable sediment from the washed-out gullies, no matter that
a home or business owner would need a special permit and mitigation for sediment
catchment, the process went ahead anyway.
Further, June 26, 2015
The pump out of well no 4 has ceased, the reason given is 'mechanical failure'. It is not known if
pumping would have continued had the new pump not failed. It is not known why
the pump was not turned off as soon damage to land and creek became noticeable.
Apparently new pumps were installed and
needed to be tested. It is not
understood why mitigation was not put in place before the process started
because capacity of the pumps must have been known and it is reasonable to
expect that the deep well would have sufficient water to test the pump. It is not known when the new pumps were
installed and whether they could have been tested before this time. It is not known if other city wells are being
tested in the same way. The city has
repaired the trails at Elizabeth Lake and filled the gullies caused by the
water which flowed for several days. A
pipe has now been installed and a sediment catchment trap but is not known if
the testing will resume.
Cranbrook Erosion and Sediment Control Bylaw 3692
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/document/1388/3692,%202010%20Erosion%20and%20Sediment%20Control%20Bylaw.pdf?handle=F061BDAE8FF24130AB35C80883BB9D6C
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| mitigation now installed, visible sediment deposit bar in creek caused by several days of continuous flow |
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