GBA 2022 - Summer Update

≥ In 2017/18 the City of Victoria, BC, succeeded in its defence of its 2016 bylaw aimed at stopping houseboats from mooring for extended periods of time in the Gorge Waterway – some of them had been there for 40 years. The court found that the bylaw superseded federal regulations in certain key respects and the houseboats had to move on. Taken together, these legal precedents are helpful to the efforts of GBA and others to work together cooperatively to establish that floating cottages are subject to municipal oversight and regulation. Ultimately, we believe this will be the best way to minimize environmental impacts, particularly protecting water quality. GBA Recent and Ongoing Action: ≥ Initiated discussions on a coordinated approach via a strategic alliance between key stakeholders to determine how municipal regulations can be implemented and enforced ≥ Commenced discussions with Transport Canada to request that vessel licences not be issued for floating cottages and those that have been issued be rescinded ≥ Developing a strategy on advocating to the federal and provincial agencies that have a direct or indirect role regulating floating cottages ≥ Provided input to the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR) at a March 2022 consultation webinar on the issues ≥ Developed suggested comments for member associations to use in their responses to the MNR’s request for feedback on the issue in March/April 2022 ≥ Submitted comments on the MNR’s Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) posting, see: https://bit. ly/36zjtUv . Related Issues Besides potential lake bed and shoreline degradation from lack of sunlight, overuse of the shore where floating cottages are tied up, and aesthetic and noise impacts, the primary environmental problem with floating cottages staying in one location for extended periods of time is the continuous dumping of grey water during such stays. Many believe that using environmentally friendly cleaning products means that grey water discharges in water do no harm. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as such products are designed to break down only in soil.

(This assumes that garbage and black water are properly disposed of; however, there are major concerns and questions regarding how – or if – this would be done, given the lack of any collection or pump-out services.) Grey water discharges from boats are an issue that GBA has been trying to resolve for many years. The primary impediment to progress on this front is that existing boats are not required to capture grey water and discharge it safely at onshore facilities. Furthermore, introducing such legislation would be very challenging because, for most existing boats, it is either extremely expensive or impossible to retrofit with grey water collection tanks. GBA has also recently been working with others on the issue of inappropriate mooring buoys that block local boat channels and/or provide long-term accommodation for small islands or lots with limited septic processing capacity, see: https://bit. ly/39cOZsF . With ever-warming water temperatures driven by climate change, these accumulations of grey water are more and more likely to lead to anoxic conditions and blue-green algae outbreaks. For this reason, addressing this water quality issue is a priority for GBA.

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GBA UPDATE Summer 2022

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