Bowser Village Centre Wastewater Project (archived)

Visit the Bowser Village Wastewater Project History page for further information and resources about the project.

September 28, 2017 Project Update

The RDN will be hosting two Bowser Village Centre Wastewater Project Open Houses in October 2017. All residents of Electoral Area H and beyond are welcome to attend and learn more about the project. Are you a community member from Bowser or the surrounding area? This is an opportunity to ask questions and share your comments with the project team. The open houses will be held at the Lighthouse Community Hall (240 Lions Way, Qualicum Beach) on Wednesday, October 18 from 5 – 8 pm and Thursday, October 19 from 11 am – 2 pm.

September 15, 2017 Project Update

At the Tuesday, September 12 Special Board Meeting, the RDN Board received and approved amendments to the DCC front-ender agreement. There are now 4 Developers as parties to the agreement, the original capacity allocations have simply been adjusted amongst the Developers to maintain the project finance model. This allows the project to move forward without affecting the Development Cost Charge contribution to the project of $2.6 million. RDN staff are working on next steps for the project, and further updates will be provided as they become available.

August 24, 2017 Project Update

At the Tuesday, August 22 Regular Board Meeting, the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) Board received the Bowser Village Sanitary Sewer Service petition results and voted in favour of moving the project on to the next step.

Now that the Board has approved the bylaws, a front-ender agreement has been developed so that potential developers can pre-purchase development units. This will allow future development to pay for a large portion of the sewer system in advance.

With these pieces in place, and $140,000 in Area H Community Works Funds, the project will have the funding source to move forward with consultation, design of the outfall and construction of the collection, treatment and effluent disposal systems. A project team will be established to conduct consultation and work with provincial and federal regulators. Further updates will be provided as they become available.

August 18, 2017 Project Update

The results of the "Petition to Establish a Sewer Service Area in Part of Electoral Area H" have now been verified.

Petitions were provided to owners of 99 properties, representing 107 parcels in the proposed Bowser Sanitary Sewer Service Area. Of the 107 parcels, 67 (62.6%), are in favour of proceeding with the project. These parcels represent 67.7% of the net taxable value of all land and improvements within the proposed service area.

The results of the petition and supporting bylaws will be presented to the RDN Board of Directors at the August 22, 2017 regularly scheduled Board Meeting to determine if the project will proceed. More information is available in the agenda for the August 22 Regular Board Meeting (please see the "Bowser Village Sanitary Sewer Service - Bylaws 1760, 1761 and 1765, 2017" Board Report on pages 40 to 101).

Following the August 22 Board Meeting, a project update will be released communicating the outcomes of the meeting and next steps for the project. Please check back for more information at that time.

Project Background

Establishing sewer servicing for the Bowser Village Centre in order to support the community's evolution into a "compact, complete community" is supported by the Bowser Village Centre Plan (2010) and RDN Rural Village Centre Study (2013). A Federal Gas Tax Grant funded wastewater servicing study for the area was initiated in 2014 with engineering consultant Stantec and is currently in its final stages. In March 2017, the Bowser Village Wastewater project was awarded funding under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund for 'Bowser Sewer Servicing' at a maximum federal/provincial contribution of $7,590,328. Urban Systems has been retained by the RDN to advise on the process to establish the Service Area and elector approval for borrowing for the construction of the Treatment Plant, Collection System and Outfall.

Contact Us

Please direct any questions about this project to:

Bowser Village Centre Wastewater Project Team
T: (250) 390-6560
E: bowserwastewater [at] rdn.bc.ca (bowserwastewater[at]rdn[dot]bc[dot]ca)

Sign up for email alerts about the project here.

For more information about community planning in the Bowser area, visit the Area 'H' Official Community Plan Review page.