UW Gazette, October 23, 1996
     
     by Barbara Elve
     
     If you're lucky, you might still spot a great blue
heron stalking prey along the banks of Laurel Creek - but
there's trouble lurking in this little piece of paradise.
     What was once a vital waterway, running across
Waterloo and through the UW campus, has become a sick
creek, choked by sediment and pollution resulting from
years of damming, straightening, relocating, shortening and
impounding its meandering banks. Adding insult to injury is
the toxic runoff and other contamination that has sullied
the stream.
     Diagnosis and treatment options will be explored at a
"Laurel Creek Workshop", an information exchange sponsored
by WatGreen and the UW Heritage Resources Centre, next
Tuesday, October 29 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Davis Centre
room 1302.
     Staff, faculty and students are invited to participate
in the workshop, at which a dozen speakers from biological,
hydrological and planning perspectives will examine the
issues.
     Efforts to diagnose and treat the ailing ecosystem
began with the Laurel Creek Watershed Study, initiated by
the Grand River Conservation Authority in the late 1980s.
The City of Waterloo got on board with the formation of the
Silver Lake Roundtable to develop a restoration plan for
the section of the waterway that passes through Waterloo
Park, downstream from the campus.
     UW, which owns some five per cent of the land through
which Laurel Creek flows, is considering its role in the
rehabilitation of waterway, thanks to a study completed by
graduate students in the school of urban and regional
planning and presented last spring to the building and
properties committee of the board of governors. The
findings of the study offer a clear indictment of human
tampering with the creek.
     "At times, the quality of water in Laurel Creek is
unsuitable for human contact," the report states. The main
source of water quality problems is the three reservoirs on
campus: Columbia Lake, the Health and Safety Reflecting
Pond, and Laurel Lake, all artificial creations by the
original designers of the campus.
     According to the report, the reservoirs reduce water
velocity and allow sediment deposits, creating shallow
ponds that increase water temperature in the stream,
encourage algae growth and reduce oxygen levels.
Aggravating the situation are large populations of
waterfowl soiling the water with bacterial contamination,
and overland runoff polluting an already toxic soup.
     Among the remedial actions recommended by the authors
of the study:
     ù that Columbia Lake and the Health Services Reflecting
Pond be returned to meandering streams with vegetated banks
and buffer zones;
     ù that Laurel Lake remain a pond with wetland
vegetation along the edges;
     ù that a new wetland be created near the Student Life
Centre to replace the existing storm water drain;
     ù that areas be created in parking lot A to detain
storm water and allow it to filter into the soil.
     Although financial constraints faced by the university
were considered by the students, the report notes that not
all proposed changes represent significant expenditures.
Already, university maintenance crews have stopped mowing
strips of land parallel to waterways on the North Campus to
allow natural regeneration of indigenous flowers and
shrubs.
     As well, the report recommends use of volunteer labour
to reduce the cost of improvements and increase awareness
of the problem and cooperation among the university commu
nity in effecting a solution.
     Dr. Larry Martin, whose graduate students compiled the
report, believes the document has served as a catalyst in
stimulating interest among members of the university
community in the environmental issues related to the water
shed.
     "A number of organizations and individuals have
expressed interest," he said, "and the building and
property committee, working with the physical plant people,
will probably identify a number of actions to be taken and
lay out a timetable.
     "I expect over the next year, decisions will be made
after discussion of the primary and secondary
recommendations (in the report) based on the university
administration's views concerning aesthetics and budgets."
     Next week's Laurel Creek Workshop will provide a forum
for the entire university community to learn about the
issues and provide feedback. According to Patti Cook,
WatGreen member and UW's waste management coordinator,
information gathered at the workshop will assist the
university in making decisions about Laurel Creek.
     "It will be an educational tool for everyone on
campus," said Cook, "an opportunity to explore issues and
options, and, ideally, to reach a consensus."
     For information or to register, call Lisa Weber at the
Heritage Resources Centre, phone ext. 2072 or hrc@fes.