The Salmon Cove Town Council has written the neighbouring municipality of Victoria seeking cooperation on addressing continued concerns about the wastewater treatment plant.

The “lagoon” as it is also known, is how Victoria, which is inland, processes sewage, but in recent years it has been blamed by neighbouring Salmon Cove for blooms of blue-green algae downstream.

Salmon Cove says the algae blooms have “played havoc” with area rivers, ponds and the overall ecosystem.

The town says residents are very concerned, especially following two big blooms that occurred in the summers of 2021 and 2023.

Salmon Cove says that resulted in a fish kill in Forest Pond and affected downstream water bodies in Salmon Cove, including a scheduled salmon river.

Salmon Cove says a recent study recommended mechanical mixing as the most viable option to help mitigate future blooms, but the cost is $355,000. Having already begun lobbying the province for funds to acquire the system, it was disappointed that the Town of Victoria did not mentioned acquiring such a system in its recent municipal budget.

Salmon Cove says they can’t wait any longer, and it should be a priority for both towns.