Photo: Lark Group

The Freshwater Fishery Society of B.C. has, yet again, reiterated its opposition to a 400-unit seniors housing development proposed near their Summerland trout hatchery.

In a letter to Summerland mayor and council dated Sept. 7, hatchery manager Kyle Girgan rejected an “alternative option” proposed by the Lark Group.

The developer floated increased water-quality monitoring in lieu of a contingency water source from a deep water intake in Okanagan Lake. The hatchery is concerned the impact the large construction project could have on its water source, Shaughnessy Springs.

“The society originally required a contingency water supply due to a lack of specifics regarding management and reduction of potential water quality risks,” Girgan’s letter states, continuing that they will continue to require a contingency water source until they see those specifics.

“Lark Group is not providing an ‘alternative option,’ instead, their bulleted list borrows heavily from FFSBC’s recommendations provided in an April 12, 2017 communication to Mayor and Council,” Girgan continued “At that time, some of the listed items were dismissed as ineffective by Lark Group’s consultants, but are now being offered as an ‘alternative option.’”

The Society also questioned the Lark Group's assertion that the construction project would not have any impact on their aquifer, asking the District of Summerland to bring in an independent third party to examine the developer’s reports.

In particular, the FFSBC was not sold on the idea that the aquifer was 12 to 15 metres below the project’s basement and would be protected by vibrations by that soil.

“We know that this protective sediment layer is completely absent at the spring site (which is why groundwater discharges to ground surface) and we know too that the protective layer becomes progressively thinner as you move eastward off the Banks Crescent property, which infers the aquifer would correspondingly be less protected from vibration effects,” Girgan writes.

“On this basis, The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC remains opposed to the iCasa Development proposed by the Lark Group for Banks Crescent,” the letter concludes.

Summerland council has indicated in the past that the project will not move forward without addressing all the hatchery's concerns.