Advisory board discusses educational cam

Advisory board discusses educational campaign on sensitive shorelines

Apr 10, 2019 | 5:29 PM

An educational campaign is in the works to inform people on the impacts of motorized boating along sensitive shorelines.

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee voted to start working on a campaign at their special meeting on Wednesday.

The decision came after a startling report from the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Partnership indicated that parts of the Kalamalka lake contain sensitive shorelines .

The group says that motorized boating in depths of 4 to 5 meters can move sediment around and impact drinking water.

” The data collected in this study suggest that boating recreation is capable of sediment re-suspension within shallow areas, most notably in the south and north ends of Kalamalka Lake. Further, this sediment can migrate towards municipal intakes under the right conditions. A range of bacterial, hydrocarbon and metal contaminants were detected in sediment samples and these can enter the water column following re-suspension,” the report reads.

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The organization recommended a low/ no wake zone in those areas to prevent sediment from impacting water intakes and causing erosion.

At the meeting on Wednesday, the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee agreed to include Okanagan Lake in their campaign because the lake also contains shorelines that are considered sensitive.

“I think it is really important that the biology of it, the marine biology of it that we are beginning to say these things are very similar, and therefore our management issues need to be similar,” said Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming who also suggested the campaigns include a map of the sensitive shorelines.

The District of Coldstream has already embarked on starting a campaign for residents along Kalamalka Lake.

The campaigns will include a pamphlet with information on how to protect the shore and a survey, according to Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick.

Managing invasive plants , leaving as much native vegetation around as possible and avoiding the use of landscaping chemicals are among some of the suggestions that will be included in the pamphlet.

While many agreed that education is necessary, the board is still trying to figure out how they will enforce the low wake zone or if enforcement will take place at all.

Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick, suggested using conservation officers to help police the lakes.

“I think there is real benefit in adding them to it. They’ve done a great job.” he said.

He says that the conservation officers used by the District of Coldstream have several days of extra capacity available, and those days could be used to police boaters .

The conservation service is funded by the RDNO Safe Communities program.

Staff will now investigate the feasibility and cost of the idea and they will report back to the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee.