City’s sewage capacity limits tested

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/05/2022 (1509 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS the city expands and the climate deteriorates, it has become clear that our existing infrastructure is woefully inadequate. This spring, after a poorly planned project caused the release of 74 million litres of untreated sewage, comes news of another 1.6 billion litres being flushed into our rivers.

It’s not our first sewage-overflow rodeo either, as MP Terry Duguid chaired a sewage-spill committee back in 2003 investigating why 427 million litres were leaked. Every year since, the saga has continued, and the 20-year-old recommendations that included an emergency response plan appear unfulfilled.

This winter’s atrocious weather and the impact of dreaded Colorado lows have played their part in contributing to combined sewer overflows (CSO). Under the circumstances, city officials have made it clear their choices are limited: either release raw sewage to the rivers, or have it back up into the basements of hundreds of homes.

This explanation is accompanied by the same refrain that separating the combined sewer system is decades away, will cost $4 billion and cannot be done without both federal and provincial funding — all true, according to the city’s master plan.

This plan — the city’s road map to upgrade our sewer system — was created by Jacobs Engineering Group. It is founded on the assumption that CSO repair investments offer only marginal benefits. The city’s medieval practice of releasing raw sewage has strategically been assigned very little value, and the plan accepts as a fait accompli that will continue until 2045.

The plan is also clearly prefaced with a number of other assumptions: releases to the river are not a public-health issue, emphasis should be on controlling “floatables” for aesthetic reasons and, ironically, that an effort should be made to improve the public’s perception of the river.

Many of us have had the reminder while at cottages with holding tanks to avoid flushing so as not to overtax the system. “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” Have we reached the point in wet-weather situations that Winnipeg residents need to hold off on flushing and the use of drains? Or should a city-wide warning system be triggered to let citizens know their sewers are under duress?

It is clear that Winnipeg sewers don’t have the capacity to deal with the consequences of our changing climate, and the master plan’s solutions will be a long time coming.

Manitoba’s environment licence for the city “requires that the frequency and volume of overflows cannot increase due to new or upgraded land development.” It is clear this is not being enforced, because buildings keep popping up and infills are proliferating. Unlimited growth in our finite environment pushes the development of multi-story apartments and condos, all with multiple toilets, dishwashers and washing-machine drains, each directed towards an antiquated infrastructure.

Provincial officials, desperate to avoid having to enforce this law, made their own interpretation of the clause last July: local development should not be hindered by the legislation, as it applies to the broader sewer-shed. In other words, new systems will offset the older neighbourhoods with CSOs.

Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way, and our capacity to deal with wet weather becomes even more compromised as the city grows and the province chooses to obfuscate the law rather than making a substantial contribution.

In order for Winnipeg to keep millions of litres of raw sewage out of our cherished rivers, the status quo must be challenged, and heads should roll at city hall when project errors occur and emergency measures are not put in place. Coun. Markus Chambers has suggested developers can be encouraged to contribute to sewer upgrades, providing the city allows them a tax break for the first 10 years.

Measures such as harnessing grey water, installing green roofs and reducing water-dependent appliances must be mandated. Federal impetus for funding housing has to require green building codes. Storage capacity at treatment plants must be increased, by building off-line tanks or tunnels in the same way Toronto and Sarnia have, and then there will be no excuses about having to shut off the pumps.

Opportunities to contribute to run-off water diversion, including swales, trees and green-space development, can also be provided to eager citizens. Alternatives abound … and climate change demands them.

Dave Taylor has been writing about river-quality issues for more than 30 years.