As noted in previous newsletters, UDI submitted correspondence to Metro Vancouver on the proposed Interim Draft Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) noting the following:

• Concerns that costs to new housing and employment projects will increase because the actions in the Plan will “… shift expenditures from Metro Vancouver to member jurisdictions, residents, and businesses…”. This could result in higher local DCCs and/or increased requirements for rainwater management on development sites.
• Cost estimates are not provided for redevelopment or for municipalities “… due to significant variation … across different member jurisdictions.”
• Concerns that senior governments are driving some of the rising costs for liquid waste management (e.g., the Province’s Municipal Wastewater Regulation and Federal/Provincial reviews of water quality objectives/guidelines) for Metro Vancouver 
  and local governments. As we have stated in previous correspondence, increasing requirements from senior governments need to come with additional funding for those rising standards.
• The building sector needs to be involved in the development and implementation of the LWMP – and even more so at the municipal level as the objective of Metro Vancouver’s proposals is to “… gradually shift some financial responsibilities from the regional level to private property owners or individual members, allowing for a more localized approach to level to addressing system capacity and compliance challenges.”

UDI wants to ensure that the costs are not unfairly borne by developments that are needed to provide new homes and job spaces for residents and businesses, and we would be pleased to continue to work with Metro Vancouver and local governments to obtain additional senior government funding for the liquid waste management infrastructure to accommodate growth and changing Federal/Provincial requirements.

February 3, 2025

Metro Vancouver has released a draft LWMP which would establish how they and their member jurisdictions will “… manage wastewater and rainwater for the next 10 years …”. It includes 20 strategies and 87 actions for Metro Vancouver and local governments – many of which “… will gradually shift some financial responsibilities from the regional level to private property owners or individual members [municipalities], allowing for a more localized approach to addressing system capacity and compliance challenges.” The actions include: 

• “Metro Vancouver and members will create and update Master Sewer Servicing Plans to accommodate growth and urban development;”
• Metro Vancouver “… discouraging disposal of food waste down drains …;”
• Municipalities will be encouraged to consider residential water metering programs and rebates for water efficient fixtures and appliances that reduce potable water use;
• Mandating the “… inspection, testing, repair and/or replacement of private laterals when new construction or redevelopment occurs;”
• Providing “… incentives or funding assistance to qualified property owners for rehabilitation of leaky private laterals;”
• Municipalities enforcing “… bylaws on private property, using existing legal authority and/or via proposing any necessary amendments to bylaws, to prevent the unauthorized discharge of rainwater and groundwater to sanitary sewers, through the issuance of notices of bylaw violation, municipal ticket information, prosecution, and/or requirements for remedial action …;”
• Municipalities establishing dedicated funding to improve rainwater management, which could include “… general tax revenue, utility fees, parcel taxes, or other innovative options;”
• Municipalities aligning “… land-use planning and development with IWMPs [Integrated Watershed Management Plans] to ensure development decisions support watershed health objectives, including protecting riparian areas and agricultural areas;”
• Municipalities updating their “… rainwater policies, programs and bylaws in a harmonized manner;”  
• Metro Vancouver reviewing the “…wet weather sewer pricing formula …,” it charges local governments, which penalizes rainwater entering sewers during wet weather events;
• Updating “… Master Municipal Construction Documents such that green infrastructure guidelines become standards;”
• Metro Vancouver and its members conducting “… a regional study of the impacts of densification on watershed health. Members will use the study results to make informed decisions that balance urban growth and ecological resilience;”
• Exploring and potentially implementing the recovery “… of thermal energy from sewage and treated effluent for use in district energy systems.” 

Metro Vancouver is seeking feedback on the draft LWMP by February 21st. They have also released a 10-minute survey on it.