Columbia Lake still a sea of mud and dreams -- story and photo by Barbara Elve

Government regulations are causing some delays in the development of a 270-acre environmental reserve on UW’s north campus, adjacent to the new Research and Technology Park.

Work is going ahead this summer on improvements to Columbia Lake, the most prominent feature in the environmental reserve, with bulldozers scooping out accumulated sediment and re-contouring the lake bed to provide a deeper and healthier habitat for fish and wildlife.

But plans to create a channel for Laurel Creek to flow around Columbia Lake — bypassing the dam at the south end of the lake and helping to restore original cold stream conditions in the creek — have been pushed back, along with plans for developing a wetland zone with swamp plants at the north end of the lake.

A report to Waterloo city council last fall described the problem: “During the detailed design investigation it was determined that the containment berm surrounding the lake would be considered a dam structure by the Ministry of Natural Resources, and consequently had to be designed to meet the criteria under the Lakes and River Improvement Act.”

Meeting those criteria would add an extra $900,000 to the cost of the project.

Superbuild funds of $1.7 million dollars — representing contributions by federal, provincial, regional and municipal governments — have been augmented with contributions of $50,000 from the University of Waterloo and $30,000 from the Grand River Conservation Authority for the creation of the environmental reserve.

To date, nearly all of the $1,780,000 has been committed on the environmental assessment and public consultation process (which examined a number of options for development of the reserve), design work, construction supervision and administration — and part of the phase one construction. Funds need to be found to proceed with work on the containment berm and the remainder of first phase improvements.

Canada geese wade across the mudflats of Columbia Lake, being dredged and deepened as part of the environmental reserve planned for UW’s north campus. The work is designed to improve water quality both in the lake and downstream in Laurel Creek. The lake will be refilled with water in October.

Fish were to swim upstream and down

Plans for the environmental reserve were unveiled in May, 2004, at an open house on campus. Selected from among four options, the proposal called for Columbia Lake — a man-made reservoir created in the late 1960s — to be made smaller and deeper, a “wetland complex with pondweed, bulrushes and other swamp plants” added at the north end of the lake, and the excavation of a separate stream channel to carry waters of Laurel Creek around the lake and downstream.

At the time, Steve Brown, an engineer from Stantec Consulting, explained that the work would improve water quality and aquatic habitat, both in the lake and downstream.

The new stream channel, said Brown, “will flow in a more natural manner, and it will allow fish to swim up and downstream.” A dam constructed at the south end of Columbia Lake as part of the original lake project had contributed to the demise of the trout that once spawned in that section of Laurel Creek.

Future phases of the development called for the expansion and redesign of the trail system, the restoration of “old field species” on agricultural land, and some creek bed remediation.

The City of Waterloo is serving as project manager for the work. According to Sunda Siva, team leader for environmental services at the city, Phase 1A — as this year’s construction has been termed — includes removing sediment and creating deeper pools in the lake to improve water quality and fish habitat, as well as making a “rough cut” along the west shore of the lake to create the future stream bed. For now, the stream bed will be filled in as part of the lake.

In addition, a sediment forebay is being excavated at the north end of the lake to trap sediment from upstream. The containment area will allow the buildup of debris to be excavated periodically without the need to drain the entire lake.

Current funding won’t cover the cost of the remainder of the first-phase plans. Wetland habitats within the lake basin will be constructed, but won’t be planted with wetland vegetation until more funds become available.

Stantec’s design report dated December 24, 2004, states that timing for implementation of the remainder of phase one work will depend on funding availability. “The City of Waterloo is currently carrying $250,000 in 2009 and $250,000 in 2010 in their capital works budget for channel construction work. Additional funding sources are being investigated and the study team is hopeful that additional funds will be committed prior to 2010 to implement all of Phase 1B works at that time.”

Improvements will help control carp

City officials are hoping this year’s improvements will deter carp from becoming re-established in the lake. The nuisance fish compete with native species, and are responsible for damaging aquatic plants and degrading the water quality by stirring up mud from the lake bottom.

After looking at a number of carp-control options, the city decided on “the most passive approach,” says Phil James, environmental coordinator for water resources. “The preferred approach was to restore system resilience and provide better habitat for a diversity of fish species, some of which will eat and control carp populations.”

The design report recommended monitoring the number of carp. If the numbers increase, the city could explore options such as holding a “carp derby” or consider “more aggressive approaches such as manual collection.”

The lake will look about the same when work is completed this fall, except for a new island on the southeast side and some new plantings around the perimeter, says Tom Galloway, UW’s director of plant operations.

Water levels are expected to return to normal by mid-October, and unlike the practice in previous years, will not be lowered during the winter months.

“Columbia Lake, as it existed, was a negative feature in the Laurel Creek watershed,” Galloway admits. “Water was heated by sitting in the lake, and had an impact on the kind of fish that could survive. That was the reason for the study. We have a long way to go to become a cold water stream again.

However, the work being done this year “will be a very big improvement in terms of water quality and fish habitat,” he says.

Alim Maherali, the first graduate from the BBA/BMath double degree program, relaxed outside of the Math and Computer Building after finishing his last exam Thursday. “Alim was admitted to the program as a guinea pig one year before the first official class,” says Jock MacKay, Statistics and Actuarial Science. “The double degree program in collaboration with Wilfrid Laurier has been very successful, attracting some of the best students in the faculty.”

Mid-August, the campus slows down

After today, it will be harder to find something to eat on campus. Joining other food service outlets that have closed for the slow season will be the ones in Modern Languages (reopens September 6), Village One (reopens September 4), and Optometry (reopens September 6). Next week it will still be possible to get something to eat and drink in the Student Life Centre, the CEIT building, Needles Hall, the Dana Porter Library, South Campus Hall, and (albeit at reduced hours) Tim Horton’s in the Student Life Centre.

Hours at the university libraries, extended to accommodate students studying for the spring term exams, will also revert to a shorter schedule from August 13 to September 11.

On-campus examinations end Saturday. On Sunday, registered students can begin to view their unofficial spring term grades in Quest (which means not all grades may appear, since grades are submitted and revised daily), says a notice from the registrar’s office. “Grades become official on September 15, at which point official and complete term grades will appear along with academic standings.”

To see what’s going on at Renison College, you could go there, or you could stay home and watch through the college’s live eye. The newly installed webcam gives a fresh view every 15 seconds of the construction site where Renison’s new academic building is rising. The building is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2006.

Today is the last chance for UW alumni to reserve tickets for Alumni Night at Tennis Canada’s 2005 Rogers Cup.… Sunday, 2 p.m., UW employees and retirees can take a walking tour of Uptown Waterloo for $2 each, organized by the UW Recreation Committee…

C&PA