NORTH Vancouver’s war in the Woods is coming to a fast boil. Were you to record it ona protest placard, Dam Trucks would sum it up pretty well. But the conflict brewing in the Grouse Woods area of North Vancouver over the movement of Cleveland Dam and Capilano reservoir soil and debris need not be a war at all. For starters, this will be tough for some Grouse Woods residents to swallow, but Greater Vancouver Regional District's water committee made the right decision on July 19. “There's no justification for investing millions in a road to detour those trucks further away from Grouse Woods homes during the dam over- haul project, whether it be $2.8 million for a gravel road or $4.5 million for a paved one. Some North Vancouver District councillors would doubtless disagree. They believe that the GVRD water committee did the dirty on North Vancouver — that it led district council ro believe it would support the detour road option if the dis- trict got approval of Grouse Woods residents. we the district got that approv: udging though it was, and the en me GVRD water committee turned around and pulled the plug on the detour. Cruelest cut of all for the North Vancouver District rep- resentatives at the GVRD meeting: West Vancouver Mayor Pat Boname voting against her North Vancouver neighbour on the issue. No North Shore solidarity forever out west it seems. But Boname’s actions reside more in fiscal realities than in North Shore municipai war-mongcring. West Vancouver is against spending further funds on, upgrades to cither North Shore dam unul the use of water sources to the cast has been fully explored. And therein lies a core issue in the whole simmering war in the Woods. For those not up to speed on the Grouse dispute it cen- tres on the $20 million project to patch up Cleveland Dam, which has a stability and water leakage problem in its east abutment area. The seepage control pro- ject, coupled with excavation work for the Capilano ozone disinfection plant, will involve the movement of debris. A lot of it. Try 350,000 cubic metres of soil; 25,000 truck trips worth, Heavy-duty truck trips at that and not just for a ee a rr a | . On, Lube & Fitter 21 pt. Safety check, 15 minutes - FAST! Includes up to 5S litres of 10w30 Quakerstate 1362 Marine Drive 980-9115 Mon-Sat 8:00am-€:00prn, Gun, 9:00am-S:00pm Expires Aug. 499 ety, Ese) : 4 , 3 LAURSEN & J Preah & lalan ako spoken Office hoare 7:30am - 4:30pm Mon-Fri Welcoming new patients and referrais. Se 390, 1425 Uarine Drite,. § Best Vancouver 922-1420 SON itd. few weeks: try 10 to 12 hours per day, six days per weck for anywhere between 10 and 18 months. Dam trucks, as you can appreciate, would be an under- statement were you living in the expensive Grouse Woods neighbourhood. Various options on how to move that debris were consid- ered by the GVRD, including using an extended conveyor belt system and running the trucks up and down Capilano road and Nancy Greene Way. The current plan is for the trucks to haul dam debris to abandoned watershed gravel pits along a service road known as Capilano Mainline. Minor complication here, however: the road, which runs north/sourh along g the west side of Nancy Greene Way, is directly behind approximately 60 Grouse Woods-area homes. The noise and ncighbour- hood disruption from the truck traffic would be siynifi- cant. Unbearable might be a mare fitting adjective. Thus the proposed detour. But the GVRD rightly questioned the sense of invest- ing millions in a rwo-kilometre guouties Tost. Does not eclote sale prloc to July 26th. 1 aséitlon! 15% | aceboy eines ’S water Strate band-aid that is only 50 metres (164 feet) west of Mainline Road and would therefore only marginally reduce noise and disruption. Its construc- tion would also require the removal of approximately three hectares of trees and would itself be disruptive for its esti- mated 10-month duration. So while we're on the sub- ject of questions, here’s anoth- er. This one is for the ever- alert GVRD team: Why invest many more mil- lions in the Cleveland Dam at all? Scepage from the dam has been a problem since it was built in 1954. Unlike its bedrock solid western counter- part, the dam’s east abutment is grounded in what has been described as “a complex strati- fication of silt, sand, gravel and glacial rill.” Sounds {css than stable to ie. Sounds like it would also be wise, were reasonable alter- natives available, to phase out the Capilano reservoir, lower the level of the lake and devel- op the Capilano as a recreation area. And reasonable alternatives soctatnde | Abditionsl | Brees arta SOs = Sunday, July 25, 1999 - North Shore News - 7 abound. As discussed in this space previously, the long-term value of the Capilano reservoir as a tnajor Lower Mainland water source needs serious rethink- ing. Recent revelations that the Harrison river/lake watershed is a vast supply of high quality water set to be tapped by Fraser Valley communities that could be extended to the entire Lower Mainland under- scores the need for that re- evaluation. Especially when you con- sider that the long-term costs of extending eastern water sources west are less than extending western sources east. There is of course need for the North Shore to maintain a fresh water supply on this side of the inlet. We don’t want to be left high and dry in the event of an carthquake or other catastrophe cutting water pipes from eastern sources. The Seymour would fill that role nicely. And seepage repair is but one picce of the Capilano reservoir/Cleveland Dam ScULPTURG PUZZLES Patoakinomon AAi98). ty 3957. Ree 2! ran Bald Fage FUCES We O91 be oe 290 y upgrade plan. Up next: an S80 million 16,000 sq. ft. ozona- tion plant with a six- storey corrosion control silo. That 18-month project will involve anywhere from 50 to 200 trucks per day plying Capilano Road depending on whom you talk to. Expect the war in the Woods to spread south when that undertaking begins. The Grouse Woods brouhaha is further evidence that the GVRD’s long-term Lower Mainland water strategy needs wholesale overhaul. The current one is starting to spring a few too many leaks. —trenshaw@adtrect.ca “ Native JeweLLery/ Wenpoinc Rincs” Selected Women's 10K Geld > Bracelets ine FHS. 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