Stormwater: I’ts killing our waters
A lot of rain falls on the Comox Valley and the Pacific Northwest generally. And every time it rains after a dry period, it’s as if a giant toilet flushes animal feces, fertilizers, pesticides, oils, road salts, heavy metals and other contaminants into our municipal stormwater systems, which in turn send torrents of polluted water directly into our watersheds, killing fish, eroding property and making our waters unsafe for shellfish harvesting. But there is a slow — some say too slow — trend toward green infrastructure and low-impact development methods to manage rain where it falls. This ongoing series of stories examines the negative impacts of stormwater runoff and the shift toward more natural solutions.
Tonnes of sewage mud removed from Brooklyn Creek, nearby residents say its been piling up for years
A Town of Comox infrastructure failure could have spilled raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek for a long time, according to nearby residents who have noticed unusual plant growth and sewage-type odours for nearly 24 months. Mayor and councilors say they didn’t know about it
Town of Comox spills raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek, doesn’t inform public
A broken pipe has spilled raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek and it appears that efforts to mitigate the damage have created a high level of turbidity, a double whammy for fish as well as a potential public health concern. But the Town of Comox has not yet formally informed the public.
Comox passes $250,000 lawsuit over to global insurance firm
The Town of Comox has handed off Norine and Ken McDonald’s $250,000 lawsuit to one of the world’s largest independent providers of claims management solutions, Crawford and Company
Town of Comox now faces $250,000 Supreme Court lawsuit over pollution
A simple request to defray a homeowner’s expense for creek bank remediation has uncovered a litany of Town of Comox problems and turned into a BC Supreme Court case valued at nearly a quarter-million dollars
Sponging up the rain, taxing impervious surfaces — what other communities are doing
This is the sixth in a series of articles about how urban stormwater runoff has negatively impacted Comox Valley waterways, what local governments are doing to address the issues and what other communities have done.
Stormwater systems shift slowly toward green infrastructure
Stormwater management plans in the Comox Valley have historically treated rainwater as waste, something to be collected and disposed of quickly, usually into previously clean streams or directly into the ocean. Clearly a new approach is needed.
Morrison Creek: a spring-fed stream without stormwater outlets sustains aquatic life
Morrison Creek thrives with diverse aquatic wildlife thanks to only two relatively harmless stormwater outlets and a pristine, spring-fed headwaters that several organizations hope to protect
Brooklyn Creek: it’s surviving, but faces old and new threats from upstream development
The Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society and the Town of Comox have kept the creek alive, but the degradation of natural assets in Courtenay and Area B continue to pose threats to this urban waterway
Golf Creek: A case study in stormwater planning gone wrong
The second in a series about stormwater begins the Tale of Three Creeks: Golf, Brooklyn and Morrison. Golf Creek is dead, Brooklyn Creek is threatened and Morrison Creek is thriving, with an effort to protect its pristine and intact headwaters