| Type | Water Utility |
|---|---|
| Industry | Water |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Victoria, British Columbia |
| Key people | Jack Hull, General Manager |
| Employees | - |
| Website | http://www.crd.bc.ca/ |
The water supply system for Victoria, British Columbia, now operated by the Capital Regional District (CRD), served in 2010 over 330,000 people with clean drinking water from a catchment area of 11,025 hectares (27,240 acres) centered on its main reservoir at Sooke Lake[1]. The CRD’s ownership and complete control of its entire watershed assures its customers of a supply that is secure in both quantity and quality. The main reservoir and its subsidiary reservoirs are estimated to contain 93 billion litres of water, enough to meet the needs of its customers for two years without any rainfall[2]. It is the history of this remarkable system that is sketched below[3].
Contents |
In 1842 Sir James Douglas led an expedition from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River to find a suitable location for a Hudson’s Bay trading post on southern Vancouver Island. He examined three harbours: Sy-yousung (now Sooke), Is-whoy-malth (now Esquimalt), and Camosack (now Victoria). Of these he picked Camosack as “the most advantageous.” He rejected the first two for various reasons, which for Esquimalt included the scarcity of fresh water. “There are several good Runs in Winter,” he wrote, “but we found them all dried up, and we could not manage to fill a single Beaker in the Harbour.” But for all its other advantages, Camosack, which became Fort Victoria, had the same problem. Lieutenants Warre and Vavason of the Royal Engineers noted on their inspection of the place in 1845: “This fort has lately been established; it is badly situated with regard to water and position, which latter has been chosen for its agricultural advantages only”[4].
Of course the newly established Fort Victoria could not exist without a water supply. Exploration of the surrounding area located two sources, both about one mile (1.6 km) east of the fort at what became known as Spring Hill and Harris Pond (near the present location of Victoria High School). At first, water was transported to the fort in barrels. Eventually the trail became a road over which wagons could be driven. As the town developed around the fort, private operators took over the operation and provided customers with two buckets a day for the equivalent of fifty cents a week[5].
By the late 1850s, especially with the Victoria’s growth as a port in response to the gold rushes on the Fraser River in 1858 and in the Cariboo in 1861, transport of water by wagon was becoming impractical[6]. Two entrepreneurs, John Coe and Thomas Martin, created the "Spring Ridge Water Company," and then undertook to dig a shaft at the spring that greatly increased the flow of water[7]. They contracted with J. P. Cranford to build a pipeline into town. The pipes were 12-foot (3.7 m)-long logs that were hollowed out and attached end to end to extend from the spring to the San Francisco Bathhouse on Government Street, from where deliveries were made to customers by wagon. The resulting increase in the water supply made it possible to fill four cisterns, ranging in size from 25,000 to 60,000 US gallons (95,000 to 230,000 L) to provide a reserve of water for fire protection[5].
By 1869 it was evident that the spring and pond would soon be incapable of supplying Victoria’s growing population[8]. Concerns were also being expressed about the business practices of the Spring Ridge Water Company[9]. The city engineer, Mr. Buckley, was asked to investigate the possibilities. He submitted a report in May 1872 recommending the use of Elk and Beaver Lakes that lay about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city. One result of his report was passage of the Victoria Waterworks Act of 1873 by the Provincial Legislature giving the City of Victoria disposal over all water sources within a radius of 20 miles (32 km)[10].
Debentures were issued raising the money needed, and work began in 1874. Beaver Lake was the smaller and lower of the two lakes. A dam and filter bed were built at its southwest corner where its water flowed into Colquitz Creek. This raised the water level to that of Elk Lake, forming a single larger lake. A 9-mile (14 km) pipeline ranging in diameter from 7 to 9 inches (178 to 229 mm) was then laid along what is now Pipeline Road to a distribution point known as Fountain Square at the intersection of Government Street, Douglas Street and Hillside Avenue from which water was then supplied to customers in the city[5].
The quality of this water was problematic from the start. The filter beds were altered and enlarged four times between 1876 and 1883 with only minimally noticeable effect, while demand was constantly increasing. Connections to users outside the city were cut off in 1885, and use within the city for lawns and gardens was banned. Between 1887 and 1889 a 16-inch main was added, which for the moment solved the availability problem but exacerbated the quality problem, as the increased flow rate carried more sediment through the filters. Additional modifications to the filter beds provided only temporary relief[5].
In 1904 a pumping station was established on Quadra Street at Reynolds Road. This improved the quantity but not the quality. In 1907 a fire in downtown Victoria devastated several city blocks because despite increased quantity there was insufficient water for such a large fire. As a result, a separate high-pressure system was built in the city using saltwater solely for fire protection. Work was also begun on a balancing reservoir on Smith Hill, which was completed in 1909[5].
Despite these improvements, the supply and quality of water remained problematic until 1915. Between 1909 and 1915 the Water Department was constantly dealing with complaints about quality and low pressure. Water had to be rationed during this period. At one point the Water Commissioner, Charles Henry Rust, noticed an unusually heavy usage at the Empress Hotel. Investigation revealed that the Hotel, which was owned by Canadian Pacific, was washing all the laundry for the CP steamships that came into the harbour. He warned that the hotel would be shut off completely if it did not cease this practice immediately[11].
Understanding already in 1905 that the current supply from Elk and Beaver Lakes would not be adequate in the long term, the city hired a consulting engineer from San Francisco, Arthur L. Adams, to study the problem and make recommendations for future development[12]. At the time, the City of Victoria was considering striking a deal with Esquimalt, which had become the base for the Royal Navy and had developed its own water supply system using Thetis and Goldstream Lakes. This, however, the city realized, was also not a long-term solution. As a more secure alternative Adams recommended the use of Sooke Lake. In 1909 the city decided to accept Adams’ recommendation. The plan involved acquiring ownership of the lake and surrounding watershed, building a dam there, constructing a flowline of 27.5 miles (44.3 km) to a holding reservoir to be constructed at the Humpback Road near Goldstream. From there a pipeline would run about 10.5 miles (16.9 km) through the Helmcken Fields and along Burnside Road to a distribution point in the city at Fountain Square[5].
The consulting firm charged with engineering the project was Sanderson & Porter, with offices in New York and San Francisco[13]. The responsible design engineer was Wynn Meredith of San Francisco. Initially, the resident engineer was E. E. Carpenter, but he was soon replaced by Boyd Ehle from the New York Office. The firm established an office in Victoria in the Drake Block at 1414 Douglas St. The initial contract for the construction work was awarded to Solomon Cameron and Parker Clarke of the Westholme Lumber Co. The work began in 1911. Problems with the Westholme company led to two significant moves in 1912. First, Charles Henry Rust, who had been the City Engineer in Toronto and had a reputation for getting things done, was brought in as City of Victoria Water Commissioner to replace J. L. Raymur. Second, the City cancelled Westholme’s contract and took over the project as a public work.
The watershed was secured through purchase by the City of the 30 square miles (78 km2) surrounding Sooke Lake. The consulting engineer recommended that the neighboring Leech River watershed also be acquired and connected to Sooke Lake by a 5-mile (8 km) conduit, but this was not undertaken at the time. Sufficient land was acquired around the planned reservoir at Humpback. And a 100 ft (30.5 m). right-of-way for the 27.5-mile (44.3 km) flowline from Sooke Lake to Humpback, as well as the necessary right-of-way for the water main to the city, were added to the package.
The concrete dam at Sooke Lake raised the water level 12 ft (3.7 m)., expanding the surface area from 978 to 1,180 acres (396 to 480 hectares) and creating an available storage capacity of 3.355 billion US gallons (12,700,000 m3). The balancing reservoir at Humpback was created by building a concrete dam to a height of 31 feet (9.4 m), closing off a sloping valley that would then fill with the water piped down from Sooke Lake. The resulting reservoir would cover 13.57 hectares (33.5 acres) and hold up to 136 million US gallons (510,000 m3).
The greatest engineering challenge was to build the flow line of concrete pipe from Sooke Lake to Humpback. A grade was established that would drop 5 feet (1.52 m) per 1 mile (1.6 km) (0.0947%) for the 27.5 miles (44.3 km). The plan had been for 40-inch (1,016 mm) internal diameter pipe, but a contractor, the Pacific Lock Joint Pipe Co., was found who already had forms for a 42-inch (1,067 mm) diameter reinforced concrete pipe, so it was decided to use that size. A pipe factory was established at Cooper’s Cove in Sooke Harbor within 2,000 ft (610 m). of the planned flowline grade, 17.5 miles (28.2 km) from Sooke Lake and 10 miles (16 km) from Humpback. Altogether, this factory produced more than 36,000 4-foot (1.22 m) interlocking sections of concrete pipe.
The laying of the flowline involved building a small gauge railway on the grade from the pipe factory to Sooke Lake and to Humpback. Sections of pipe were loaded on cars, 22 at a haul, and pulled by a small engine up to the end of the line where they were placed into position. As the pipeline was laid, the railway tracks were taken up. When the rails were first laid, 56 wooden trestles had to be built across gorges. When it came to laying the pipeline 51 of those trestles were replaced by concrete trestles; in 5 cases inverted siphons were laid across the valley.
The final task of the project was to lay a 36-inch (914 mm) diameter riveted steel pipeline from the Humpback dam to Fountain Square from which a 12-inch (305 mm) main delivered water into town. These pipes were produced by the Burrard Engineering Co. In addition, a 24-inch (610 mm) line ran from this point to the Smith Hill reservoir.
The project was completed in May 1915 with the official opening ceremony held at the Sooke Dam on the 28th of that month, Mayor Alexander Stewart presiding. A notice appeared in the two city’s newspapers on 1 June that water restrictions would no longer be enforced. There was now more than ample water for the city’s population of 50,000.
Boyd Ehle had retired from the project sometime in 1914 to take up an assignment in Cuba. For the last year, Leonard Frederick Young was acting as resident engineer with Harry Huston Crawford as his assistant. The on-site engineering team included Ivar Hallen, Frederick Sealy and John Krog. The records of others have been lost except for the surnames of Pollock and Bartholomew.
In 1925 the city expropriated the Esquimalt Waterworks Company, thus acquiring Goldstream Lake and about 10 square miles (25.90 km2) of additional watershed as well as facilities at Japan Gulch.
Until 1943 there was no need for chlorination. In that year, however, Victoria was a marshaling point for both Canadian and American troops. Under pressure from U.S. military authorities chlorination stations were installed at Japan Gulch and Humpback. In 1948 the Greater Victoria Water District was formed to manage the overall water supply. Each municipality then assumed responsibility for distribution in its own area.
With district population rising, it became necessary in 1954 to add a 39-inch (991 mm) main from Humpback to a new balancing reservoir on Mount Tolmie. The reservoir on Smith Hill could no longer handle the added pressure and was taken out of service. By the late 1950s it was becoming evident that the flowline from Sooke Lake to Humpback would soon be outgrown. Aside from limitations of capacity, the old pipeline was leaking seriously, with fully a third of the water that entered it at the Sooke dam being lost through its 36,000 joints before reaching Humpback.
In 1960 work began on a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) tunnel from Sooke Lake to Japan Gulch. The idea had already been suggested by the engineering consultant Arthur L. Adams in 1905, but the technology of the time was already stretched to its limits by the demands of the flowline. As with the flowline, the work was begun by a private company under contract. A full-face boring machine called a mole was used to drill an 8 ft (2.4 m). diameter tunnel into the mountain. The equipment, however, kept breaking down and the contractor went bankrupt. Once again, the project was taken over by the public authority, now the District, and completed using more conventional methods of drilling, blasting, and mucking. Water was flowing through the tunnel at the rate of 140 million US gallons (530,000 m3) per day by 1970. At the same time, the flowline from near the town of Sooke to Humpback was decommissioned. The remaining section coming down from the dam would continue to serve the Sooke area. 1970 also saw the construction of a new 52-foot (16 m) dam at Sooke Lake downstream from the old one which was then inundated. The annual amount of water now available for use was 57 billion litres.
In 1995, 100 people became ill when water from the Humpback reservoir, which was still in service, became contaminated with toxoplasmosis from the feces of feral cats. As a result of this, the Humpback reservoir was shut down for good and construction was begun on a disinfection plant at Japan Gulch that would use ultra-violet light to neutralize micro-organisms not killed by chlorine. When it came into operation in 2004, it was the largest such plant in North America. In 1996, the now vastly expanded water supply system was transferred from the Greater Victoria Water District to the Capital Regional District.
In 2002, the Sooke dam was raised once again, creating a total system capacity of 95,000,000,000 litres (3.4×109 cu ft). A tunnel had been built in the 1980s from Leech River to Sooke Lake. The Leech watershed was finally purchased in 2007, adding 8,791 hectares (21,720 acres) to the already existing 11,025 hectares (27,240 acres) of watershed[1].