Liquid Waste Management Plan (Rainwater)
The District of Sooke has recently completed construction of sewage collection and treatment facilities under a provincially mandated Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP). This three-stage process has now completed its final stage.
The LWMP process also required the development of planning strategies for the long-term management of rainwater. Enhanced rainwater management will have direct effects on the environment (watercourses and watersheds), public health and well-being and the ways in which municipal infrastructure and private land is developed. The LWMP (Rainwater) Stage 1 provided an investigation of rainwater management options and has been approved by the provincial Ministry of Environment.
Stage 2 & 3 LWMP (Rainwater) has been developed with significant input from the municipal planning and engineering department, the community and the LWMP Advisory Committee.
During the Stage 2 & 3 (Rainwater) LWMP process, plan requirements were developed to provide clear direction to the District of Sooke to ensure that:
• Municipal rainwater infrastructure is developed in a manner that will result in healthy watercourses and a healthy near shore marine environment;
• Watershed based management approaches implemented to protect the District of Sooke’s watersheds;
• Low impact development techniques are employed to maintain, and where possible restore the pre-development hydrologic regime of urbanized and developing watersheds;
• Biological and chemical contaminants do not enter rainwater flows in the first place (rainwater source control);
• A green infrastructure approach to rainwater management is taken to provide for cleaner air through well treed riparian zones and streetscapes;
• Education and training activities are undertaken and community involvement is supported;
• Rainwater, on-site sewage treatment and groundwater recharge are not viewed in isolation;
• Spills are prevented and response and reporting protocols are in place;
• Annual monitoring and reporting of rainwater flows is undertaken;
• Methods to fund rainwater activities are investigated; and
• Regulatory policies, guidelines and options are discussed on an ongoing basis.
The Minister of Environment approved Stage 2 & 3 (Rainwater) LWMP in May, 2011. The District of Sooke is the first community in British Columbia to integrate both Sanitary and Rainwater LWMP's.
Summary Document for the integrated Stage 2 & 3 (Rainwater) and Stage 3 (Sanitary) LWMP
Addenda to Stage 2 & 3 (Rainwater) LWMP