PACE, a Southern California-based firm that specializes in advanced water engineering, installed a system to pump dissolved oxygen into the Upper Oso Reservoir in California in 2010 after the body of water experienced an odour outbreak in 2009. A similar system is being considered for Osoyoos Lake to improve water quality and conditions for the lake’s fish. Pictured is the oxygen generator used to infuse the reservoir’s water with oxygen. Photo courtesy of PACE - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-June 8, 2011

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

The idea of pumping dissolved oxygen into Osoyoos Lake to improve water quality and conditions for fish is being floated by a number of organizations with an interest in the lake.
On May 26, members of the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society, the Okanagan Basin Water Board, the Lake Osoyoos Association from Oroville, Wash., and representatives of the Town of Osoyoos met with representatives of the Southern California-based firm PACE, which specializes in advanced water engineering.
PACE, which was invited to come to Osoyoos by a member of the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society, has worked to remediate and restore several lakes and reservoirs— including the Upper Oso Reservoir and Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore in California— by infusing oxygen into the bodies of water.
Andy Komor, vice-president of PACE’s environmental water division, discussed a number of possibilities with the groups for improving water quality in the lake using a process of pumping dissolved oxygen into the lake’s water.
After touring several locations around the lake— including the oxbows where the Okanagan River flows into the lake— Komor said if local governments and lake-focused organizations were in favour of hiring PACE to infuse the lake’s water with oxygen, the preferred approach would be to pump water from the deepest, coldest part of the lake into an onshore vessel.
Within the vessel, the water would be infused with oxygen and pumped into another part of the lake.
Although systems to pump oxygen into a lake or reservoir can be installed beneath the water’s surface, Komor said having infrastructure to infuse water with oxygen onshore makes it easier for people to access the vessel.
Putting more oxygen into the lake’s water is important because fish that use the lake, especially salmon, have only a limited corridor in which they can live and travel.
Because of the lake’s composition, the amount of nutrients in the water and the climate in the area, fish are squeezed into a corridor beneath warmer water near the surface and deeper water that contains low oxygen levels.
Pumping oxygen into the lake would give fish a larger comfort zone and it would also improve the appearance and smell of the lake, Komor said.
Low oxygen levels in a lake can cause phosphorous in the water to dissolve and create more algae and allow other chemicals to mix in the water and produce unpleasant odours and a discolouration of the water.
Oxygenating the water of Osoyoos Lake would also firm up sediment at the lake’s bottom, Komor added, which would reduce erosion in the lake and make the bottom firmer and more pleasant to the touch for swimmers.
Mark McKenney, past-president of the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society, said the society is interested in exploring the oxygenation concept for Osoyoos Lake because, although the water quality in the lake has gotten better in recent years, there is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to dealing with low oxygen levels which contribute to algae growth, increased turbidity and decreased water clarity.
He added that the society also feels that improving oxygen levels in the lake is important to help salmon which spawn in the area.
The main goal of any oxygenation project, McKenney said, would be to reduce the “temperature-oxygen squeeze” which fish face in Osoyoos Lake.
While PACE was invited to the area to tell the society and others about the technical feasibility of pumping oxygen into the lake, he said the firm will also help local organizations set up “presentation materials” that will be used to pitch the idea of oxygenating the lake to other levels of government including local First Nations communities.
A member of the Okanagan Basin Water Board is already working to arrange meetings with representatives of higher levels of government and First Nations communities such as the Okanagan Nation Alliance in B.C. and the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington, McKenney added.
The starting point of any conversation with higher levels of government will be costs, he said, since money for any type of oxygenation project would have to come through agreements with the province and even Ottawa.
Komor said the cost of an oxygen-infusion project for Osoyoos Lake would be roughly $5 million.
If his firm was hired for such a project, it would likely take a phased approach and focus on one of the lake’s three basins.
Focusing on oxygenating the 320-hectare south basin could cost anywhere from $2 to $3 million, Komor added.
The first steps PACE would take in beginning such a project, he said, would be to look at data on the lake from the past decade and study oxygen depletion levels in the water.
From there, the firm would set up a number of scenarios using computer models to determine the best places to draw water from and discharge the oxygenated water.
After such studies were completed, the firm would go back to stakeholders with an interest in the lake with some ideas about how to carry the project out, Komor said, adding that any such project could also include restoration work for the Okanagan River upstream from the lake.
Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells, who attended the meeting with the firm on behalf of the Town and in his role as chair of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, said the Town would be a partner in any oxygenation project that could take place and the board could look at a grant program offered by the Royal Bank of Canada.
He added, however, that he was unsure who or what agency would take the lead if it was decided to pursue the oxygenation concept.
news@osoyoostimes.com