Accusations are flying across the waters of Brentwood Bay, and the debaters need to bring some facts to a murky controversy.
One fact is clear: Bacteria levels in some parts on the bay are high enough that no-swimming warnings were posted at a couple of beaches. Where the nasty bugs come from is the question that has various groups at odds.
Some who live on the land say the people living on boats in the bay are dumping their sewage into the water. The boaters say they wouldn鈥檛 foul their own nest, and the contamination must be coming from transient boats or some source on land, such as a leaky sewage line.
Neither side has much in the way of evidence to back up its claims.
The District of Central Saanich says there is no single source. Tides, animal feces, runoff, water temperatures and the hot summer weather can all play a role.
But the district is trying to get a licence of occupation for the bay, which would give it the power to control the number of mooring buoys and ensure boats have sewage holding tanks that are being pumped out properly. It would come with a $1,000 annual mooring fee for boats, which is resented by those who live on boats.
A thorough testing program to try to find the major sources of contamination would help focus cleanup efforts, but it鈥檚 unlikely to be definitive enough to convince everyone.
Instead of pointing fingers, the boaters, the district and the shorebound homeowners all have to do what they can to keep the bay clean.
