Watersheds Threatened by Development in Former Parklands

When Silver Star Provincial Park was first established as a Class A park in 1940, one of the main objectives was to protect the headwaters of several community watersheds.

Fortune Creek, which drains the western part of the park, supplies water to Armstrong and Spallumcheen. Silver Star Lakes and Fortune Lake are the headwaters of Fortune Creek, and this watershed remains for the most part undeveloped and well protected by the Class A Provincial Park.

BX Creek, which has its headwaters at Brewer's Pond (the skating pond), flows southwest through the BX area, and into Swan Lake. A water reservoir on the creek, once used as a community water supply, has been deactivated, but some creek water is still used for irrigation by the BX ranch. Stormwater runoff from the ski resort and sedimentation threaten water quality in BX Creek.

Sand and Gravel dumped by street sweeper has been washed toward BX Creek by spring meltwater, as seen in this photo taken just above BX Creek near the entrance to Creekside Condominiums.

 

 Late spring melt caused this erosion in 2008, exposing a gas line in the Alpine Meadows subdivision. The curbs and storm drains were unable to handle the heavy runoff. The sediment laden runoff made its way into BX Creek since few, if any sediment catchment areas have been established to prevent stream sedimentation. 

 

Coldstream Creek drains what used to be the southern part of the park, and it flows through a deactivated community water reservoir at Noble Canyon, then flows west beside Highway 6 and Coldstream Creek Road, into Kalamalka Lake. The Silver Star sewage lagoons are at the headwaters of Coldstream Creek. A significant portion of the sewage effluent in the 4th lagoon at Silver Star exfiltrates and makes its way into small seepwater streams which join Coldstream Creek.

Seepwater stream on Coldstream Creek side of Silver Star Sewage Lagoons - this creek runs all winter under the snow. This photo was taken in mid-October. High nitrate levels in midwinter make this water unsafe to drink, even if boiled. High chloride levels indicate this contaminated water likely originates in the sewage lagoons.

 

This is the same stream in mid-January. Here, the stream flows under the World Cup Shortcut nordic ski trail. This spot is approximately 130 metres from the exfiltration lagoon. In water samples taken from this spot, nitrate levels were 24 mg/litre and total nitrogen measured 28 mg/litre.  Estimated flow rate was 10 - 20 gallons/minute. For a detailed analysis, click here.

 

Deafies Creek drains the southeast corner of the former park, flowing into Vance Creek, which joins Bessette Creek, which then flows into Shuswap River, then Mabel Lake. 

Vance Creek drains the east side of the park, flowing through the Vance Creek Ecological Reserve before being joined by Deafies Creek, and then it flows into Bessette Creek. The Silver Star sewage lagoons are also at the headwaters of Vance Creek. A significant portion of the sewage effluent in the lagoons at Silver Star exfiltrates from the 4th lagoon and makes its way into Vance Creek.

Seepwater stream about 50 metres below the exfiltration pond on the Vance Creek side. Ammonia levels in the groundwater test well immediately above this stream can be 200 times that of test wells above the lagoons. High chloride levels in this seepwater (100 times background levels) indicate it likely originates in the sewage lagoons.

 

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