I have to admit, that in my day I’ve seen my fair share of bureaucratic sputtering and hand-wringing over efforts to protect one team member from having to face the weight of public reaction from their horrificly inept or insensitive remark at one time or another, but this might take the proverbial cake. Seems one flow device was installed at Coats marsh during the punic wars and they want another one, but they don’t want to release the report about why it’s necessary until it’s been “Redacted” for sensitive material.
What do you want to bet that the sentive material is the magistrate referring to those “Goddamn rodents:? Or directly said, “How do we get rid of these rats once and for all?”
Few details on impact installation of pond leveller at Coats Marsh could have
The Regional District of Nanaimo intends to install a second pond leveller at Coats Marsh Regional Park sometime this fall, but some Gabriolans feel there’s a lack of information that demonstrates the need for it.
Nick Doe has been visiting the shallow-water wetland of Coats Marsh and surrounding forest for 10 years and has been making field observations and taking measurements, including water flow through to Coats Creek, for Gabriola Streamkeepers since 2015. Doe, an electronics engineer by trade, likes the solitude in the sensitive ecosystem, home to frogs, bats and waterfowl, and has witnessed the work of beavers as they have built two dams in the roughly metre-deep wetland and the way the overall ecology has adjusted to their homebuilding efforts.
Uh oh. Officials definitely get nervous when free-lance biologists start walking around their habitat and making observations of the habitat over several years. They hate that.
Years ago the beavers’ labour raised the level of the marsh and increased the overall surface area, expanding the habitat for ducks and insects including multiple species of dragonflies.
The RDN plans to install the second pond leveller at Coats Marsh “following recommendations” from a weir assessment report completed in May 2020 by mechanical engineering firm SRM Projects. Since last summer parks quarterly reports have mentioned the intention to do so.
Doe has been “anxiously awaiting” to read the report of the consultant, with whom Doe and others shared observations and historical information about the weir and marsh.
“I’m not sure what problem it’s solving,” Doe said of a second leveller, adding he wants to know what consideration has been given to how it might affect the overall ecology of the wetland.
“Since 2015 the beavers have been increasing the height of the dam,” Doe said. “That stabilized a couple of years ago. In the last three years there has been no increase in the height of the dam – the beavers are quite satisfied with the level they have.”
Oh I can tell you exactly what problem a second flow device would solve. The Frickin’ Beaver problem. They want to lower the water enough that the rodents are forced to leave the ex-marsh entirely. Does that sound right to you?
Upon requesting a copy of the report, an RDN spokesperson told the Sounder that it contains “sensitive information” and could not be shared unless redacted. The Sounder was later told the report had to be shared with the board of directors first. Yann Gagnon, RDN manager of parks, later clarified that consultant reports “can contain private personal information as well as information from third parties” and are not shared with the general public.
You know how beaver documents are… with all that “SENSITIVE” four letter words that need redacting. It’s a full time job, really, talking smack about beavers, doing bad things and covering them up. 24/7.
Gagnon provided the Sounder with a short list of “priority actions” noted in the 2020 weir assessment report, which include “lowering the greater Coats Marsh pond level to the ‘design’ weir spill level” by installing a Clemson pond leveller through the beaver dam as well as removing the beaver debris and vegetation buildup in front of the weir and footbridge. RDN staff did not respond as of press time about what impact, if any, that work would have on the beavers and overall conditions of the wetland.
Apparently they also would like to travel BACK IN TIME to the 90’s when people actually used clemson pond levelers. Good luck with that.
Madrone Environmental Services Ltd. has been contracted to install the second pond leveller. The parks report from July 2020 notes that an environmental management plan will be prepared to support the installation of a second pond leveller; however, staff did not say if that plan has been developed yet. An RDN spokesperson said the timeline of installation or total cost will not be known until mid-August “as they are currently working on the best solution for the environment.”
Why just a second? Why not a third pond leveler? Why not a fourth? Why not an actual sump pump or vacuum cleaner that can get rid of the water entirely? Come to think of it why is their a pond at all? It’s just a bunch of mud that’s going to need cleaning up eventually. Why not make my job easier once and for all?
Doe, who humbly acknowledges he’s “not an expert,” just wants to see the report and is frustrated to not have results shared given the amount of background information and data he and other volunteers provide the RDN that is then used to develop plans.
“I think we deserve some feedback.”
I’m so old that I can remember when our own city council member wanted to REDACT their own child’s beaver drawingbecause they were sure that it only reflected the conflict in his newly divorcing family. He was so concerned about it that he sent another council member came to ask me in person not to share the artwork with the paper or the website. Ahh the good old days.
Good luck with all that redacting.
