Stoney Creek streamkeeper pushes back against provincial dewatering proposal

It’s more important to protect the stream than to streamline construction, according to an advocate for Stoney Creek.

In an effort to speed up construction projects, the province is considering new rules around dealing with groundwater at excavation sites.

Generally, when a construction company runs into groundwater – which happens frequently in the Lower Mainland due to the high water table – they need to get authorization to remove that groundwater under the Water Sustainability Act.

Those applications can cause delays, “even on projects that are unlikely to cause harm to public safety, the environment, land, or other property,” according to a post from the province.

Water taken from a construction site is often discharged into the environment or storm sewers – a prospect that concerned Stoney Creek streamkeeper George Kovacic.

Pumping groundwater into the storm system, “poses a significant threat” to the environment, particularly for a small stream like Stoney Creek, according to Kovacic.

“Groundwater can contain high concentrations of various metals and when large amounts of groundwater are released into a small creek, it can change the metal content of the creek with negative impacts on the ecosystem,” Kovacic stated.

The province is conducting a survey on the proposed changes to the Water Sustainability Act.

Kovacic, who has spent years calling for greater safeguards around the creek, is asking for residents to fill out that survey.

“The Water Sustainability Act has protected the environment, if imperfectly, from the practice of discharging groundwater from construction sites,” Kovacic wrote. “The act does not exist to protect profits, it exists to protect groundwater, an essential natural resource.”

If enacted, the changes would get rid of a tool that protects waterways from groundwater discharge, according to Kovacic.

The survey closes Friday. More info here.