Metro Vancouver watersheds

History

Establishment

The Vancouver area began to grow rapidly in the late 1880s. In April 1886, two entities, the Vancouver Water Works Company and the Coquitlam Water Works Company, were established with the goal of finding and providing good, reliable sources of drinking water for the growing population.

Seymour and Capilano watersheds

In 1887, the Capilano River was selected as the source of water supply for the City of Vancouver. An intake pipe was constructed 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) upstream of the mouth of the river, and a pipeline carried this water across the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet and into the City of Vancouver.

As the population in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver continued to grow, it became clear that another source of water was needed to meet growing demands. In 1905, Vancouver Mayor Frederick Buscombe identified the Seymour River as a valuable water resource. Recognizing that the surrounding watershed land should be protected from logging and mining activities, the B.C. government obtained a 999-year lease to designate the Capilano and the Seymour as a watershed reserve for water supply purposes in 1905 and 1906, respectively. Lands purchased prior to the reserve agreement remained under private ownership, and established mining and timber claims were considered valid and were still practiced after 1905 and 1906. In 1908, the first intake in the Seymour River was constructed. It was in the form of a wooden fir stave pipe and was situated 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the mouth of the river, and at an elevation of 140 metres (460 ft). A second intake, 600 metres (2,000 ft) north of the first one, was built in 1913. The pipeline supplied water to residents of North Vancouver, and later carried water underneath the Second Narrows Bridge to residents of Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond. In 1927, the wooden pipe was replaced by a steel pipe. In 1928, a small dam was built six kilometers north of the Seymour intake. This dam, known as the Seymour Falls Dam, resulted in filling of a 180-acre reservoir. The dam and the reservoir were expanded in 1961 to the size they are found today.

Coquitlam watershed

From 1892 onwards, Coquitlam Lake was the domestic water supply for the City of New Westminster. On October 18, 1902, the Vancouver Power Company (VPC) took over control of providing New Westminster City with long-term potable water from the Coquitlam Water Works Company. The intake for New Westminster's water supply was originally located at the lower end of Coquitlam Lake, above the location of the first dam. A new intake location in the western half of the dam was installed in 1905. In August 1909, the federal government granted the VPC rights to the water within the Coquitlam reservoir and almost the entire Coquitlam run-off.

Logging

Early logging: 1918–1931

From 1918 to 1931, the Seattle owned Capilano Timber Company logged an estimated 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres) of old-growth forest in the Capilano watershed. Capilano Timber Company obtained timber leases prior to the decision in 1905 to prevent any more land in the Capilano watershed to be privately purchased. In 1916, residents were notified of the railway complex being planned for logging operations, and by 1918 clear cutting in the Capilano watershed had begun. Watershed observers, hired by the City of Vancouver to investigate the logging activity in the Capilano, noted that logging was occurring at high elevations (up to 750 m / 2,460 ft), on steep slopes, and at the mouths of tributaries to Capilano River. Residents and politicians in Vancouver became very concerned that the quality of the future water supply was at risk from logging activities. In addition to logging, fires were also a concern. Thirty-seven fires caused by logging practices occurred in the Capilano watershed during the occupation of the Capilano Timber Company. One of these fires burned an estimated 3,213 acres in the watershed.

In 1922, Ernest Cleveland, the provincial Comptroller of Water Rights and Consulting Engineer of the Provincial Lands Department of BC, submitted a report recommending that the watersheds be under the complete control of those responsible for the water supply. He asserted that land in the watersheds should no longer be leased for the purpose of timber extraction. There was a great amount of debate over this idea. Following Cleveland's recommendation, the provincial minister of lands, T.D. Pattullo granted an additional 170 acres of land above the city's water intake to Capilano Timber Company. This action was met with backlash from citizens and elected officials and was eventually cancelled by British Columbia Premier John Oliver. In 1924, University of British Columbia professor and botanist John Davidson addressed the Vancouver Natural History Society to express concern for effects of clear-cut logging on water supply quality in the Capilano watershed. Pattullo responded with an article in the newspaper disagreeing with Davidson, and the debate continued in a very public and intense fashion.

On February 3, 1926, the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) was officially formed with Ernest Cleveland as its Commissioner. In 1927, the GVWD obtained a 999-year lease from the provincial government for all Crown land and timber in the Capilano and Seymour watersheds. The rental fee was one dollar per year, per watershed. The Capilano Timber Company abandoned its logging activities in the Capilano Watershed in 1931. The GVWD gradually bought out all logging companies in the Capilano watershed, and Capilano and Seymour were soon completely closed watersheds. In 1931, the GVWD gained title to the Coquitlam watershed, but a 999-year lease to the Coquitlam was not granted by the provincial government until 1942.

Logging for watershed protection and expansion

Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s the GVWD was persistent in its position to keep logging out of the watersheds. Following Cleveland's death in 1952, many forestry companies began to push for logging of land in the watersheds for income. They argued that logging of mature forest was necessary for protection of the watersheds against forest fires, insect infestation, and old aged trees. However, near the end of the decade, the position of the GVWD on logging began to show signs of changing. On December 16, 1958, logging in the Seymour watershed began to clear land for the new Seymour dam reservoir. The GVRD hired Consolidated Services Ltd, consulting foresters and engineers, to direct operations. By the end of the project, 487 acres were cleared and a five-mile access road was built alongside the eastern portion of the Seymour Reservoir. The cleared logs were sold and brought in around $540,000. In 1960, the GVWD announced plans to continue building a road nine miles further north to the Loch Lomond reservoir in the Seymour watershed. In 1961, 316 acres of forest in the Seymour watershed were logged to prevent a wooly aphid infestation on Balsam tree species from spreading to the rest of the forest. As the decade continued, the case for logging in the watershed for the reasons of protection began to strengthen. In 1967, the 1927 GVWD lease agreement (known as the Amending Indenture) with the provincial government was changed to now allow for building of roads and logging of old-growth forests in all three watersheds. The timber on the watershed land was to be managed on a sustained yield basis for the purpose of developing, protecting and improving the water-yielding characteristics of the land.

In the Seymour and Coquitlam watersheds, there were no roads above the water intakes before 1960. In the Capilano watershed, only a service road to B.C. Hydro transmission lines was present. From 1961 to 1992, over 300 kilometres (190 mi) of logging road were constructed in the three watersheds. These roads were built through old-growth forests, across steep mountain slopes, and alongside and through creeks. About 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) in total of forest was logged as a result of roadbuilding and logging in the watersheds. The GVWD continued to insist that logging operations were enhancing and improving water quality despite contrary findings of studies in the areas of soil and forest hydrology.

The end of logging in the watersheds

In 1988, a public campaign by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee brought attention to the logging issues, and the GVWD conducted a public inquiry in 1991. Public advocacy groups including the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation, the Burke Mountain Naturalists, the Friends of the Watersheds, and the BC Tap Water Alliance made strong cases for halting logging activities. In 1999, the GVWD resolved to end all logging activity in the Greater Vancouver watersheds. The 1967 Amending Indenture was cancelled on February 8, 2002. A promise to deactivate the logging roads in the watersheds was made.

Summary of watershed logging

Capilano Highway debate

The idea of a public motor highway passing through the Capilano watershed to connect North Vancouver to Squamish and Garibaldi park was first suggested by J.W. Weart, chairman of the Garibaldi Park Board, in 1929. A campaign for this highway was maintained by the Howe Sound Highway Committee (HSHC) from 1950 to 1954. At this time, the only transport from Vancouver to the Squamish area was by ferry. The proposed route for the highway would be along transmission line access roads in the Capilano watershed, eventually connecting with logging roads in the Furry Creek watershed. Even after the death of their leader Ernest Cleveland in 1952, the GVWD maintained its position that the watersheds must be protected by isolation. In 1954, the HSHC accepted that their efforts for a highway would not be successful. In 1990 the topic was revisited by Rita Johnston, Social Credit Minister of Highways, when a rock slide cut off traffic on the Sea to Sky highway near Lions Bay.

Policy and land status summary