To the Editor,
There is an adjacent creek which runs through the southeast corner of the park which with very little effort could be used as an overflow spillway by running a levee from the beach located on the south side of the lower lake to it. Yes, it would require some excavation and building of forms for pouring cement, re-routing of some trails and some bridge building to re-open the trails through which the new spillway would run, but it can be done, relatively inexpensively. The idea is to keep the load off the existing dam by giving the excess water somewhere to escape. The only problem I see is that the only easy escape route still goes straight down the Chase River eventually.
To strengthen the existing dam would require draining it then positioning cable stays, like building a suspension bridge flopped over on its side, built on the lake side of the dam and covered over with a nice stepped side concrete inside lining to the existing dam.
I do not have any degree in engineering, civil or otherwise, but I do have something which is sorely lacking these days within the engineering department of the City of Nanaimo, and that is a creative mind.
Scott A. NymannNanaimo