A proposal to develop a reservoir for the Chapman Creek watershed has been held over until next month.
Mark Rogers, managing director of AJB Investments, outlined the plan to the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) infrastructure services committee Sept. 6.
AJB is proposing to convert its Pine Flats gravel mine to a storage reservoir and use excess water for a small hydroelectric project.
“The mining of the aggregate and the construction of the reservoir would create jobs on the Sunshine Coast,” Rogers told the committee.
Developing the Chapman Creek reservoir, he added, would be consistent with the conclusions of a 2006 water summit report.
Rogers said the company has not done sufficient testing to determine how much gravel would have to be removed from the mine before the reservoir could be built.
“I haven’t invested enough to get to the engineering portion yet.”
Power generated from the site would be sold to BC Hydro, but Rogers said he had “no guess on how much power it would generate” for the grid.
“I haven’t invested a lot into it until I see if there’s support. This is really a first step at going down this road,” he said.
The committee deferred the item until October, when a staff report will be available.
AJB owns hundreds of hectares of private managed forest land in the area and holds an active mining permit for the site.
