More Colliery Dam Wasted Money

WHAT DOES THIS COUNCIL NOT UNDERSTAND?
Why do they want to keep spending money on this dam issue?

If this city council were actually spending their own money, I wonder if they would be so reckless? They don't seem to be able to think for themselves and question the advice that city staff keep presenting as the solution to the problem that likely doesn't really exist.

They seem willing and able to overlook the fact that for all of last year they were making decisions based on incorrect data presented by city staff, all of which seem designed with the purpose of eradicating the Colliery Dam Park dams, for reasons that as yet are not clear.

Last year we were told a very convincing story which included the scenario of both dams failing in a matter of minutes as a result of an earthquake which would send a torrent of water raging through Harewood claiming 150 lives, wiping out John Barsby School and a neighbouring daycare. Remember?

The danger was said to be so real that the dams had to be destroyed last summer, and there was no time to wait. Councillors and even a facilitator were basically threatened with personal liability should this dread event happen and it were proven their pesky questions had delayed the process. Remember?

$30,000 or so was spent on legal fees in a failed attempt to get a pre-emptive injunction that would have seen protesters immediately in contempt and hauled away from the dams, so the destruction could proceed unimpeded. Remember?

Turns out now all of the drama, was based on some very unscientific hypothesis  loaded with assumptions and a large dose of speculation. Remember if you make the scope of an engineer report broad enough, without enough specifics you could likely commission one to demonstrate that Vancouver Island could sink into the sea.

New Unscientific Hypothesis Warns Of Overtopping Threat

Remember if you make the scope of the question broad enough you can support any hypothesis. In this case it seems the question was IF there was a massive rain event, and IF the water began to flow over the top of the dam and IF that resulted in the berm supporting the dam to erode COULD the dam fail and IF so WHAT would happen?

Well with all those 'ifs' in the mix Golder determined that IF there was a massive rain event, and IF that caused water to flow over the tops of the dams, and IF all of the berm should wash away then PERHAPS the dams might fail.

Only problem with all these IFS is there is no scientific modelling to prove their hypothesis or the likelihood of any of this ever happening. Yet, here we are willing to make another $8 million decision based on a purely speculative hypothesis, courtesy of what seem to be a majority of council who salivate every time the city staff rings the bell. Did they not learn anything after last year? Seems not.