Slocan Lake residents put clean water first
By Nelson Daily Staff
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
Slocan valley residents at the north end of the valley have a couple of things in common for the future: They want to keep Slocan Lake water clean and maintain biodiversity.
And they don’t favour houseboats or jet skis on the lake, either.
Those are the findings of a recent Slocan Lake Stewardship Society (SLSS) survey presented at the January board meeting of the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
“The biggest surprise was that there was not a split between those who live here full time and those who live here part time,” said SLSS president Therese DesCamp. “Or between people who would normally disagree.
“We’re wild water here, and there’s not much of that left. There was a very high percentage of people who would accept regulations. Over 90 percent want to maintain clean water and biodiversity.”
The 15-month study looked at a number of lake stewardship options and gave residents from Slocan City north to Summit Lake the chance to express their opinions in a detailed 18 question survey.
The SLSS collected 665 surveys, which is more than double the number needed to be 95 percent confident that the answers represent the views of the overall population, according to the report.
The answers to questions on structures such as docks and wharves on the lake, boats and marinas were significant.
While the majority of respondents felt that the current recreation situation is satisfactory with regard to swimming, fishing, paddling, sailing and small motor boating, “the majority of respondents (over 64 percent) felt that with respect to houseboating and sea doo-ing/jet skiing, there should be either none or less than the current situation”, the report said.
Camping and hiking were the only two activities that respondents thought there should be more of.
As far as built structures, a majority felt that existing structures should be maintained, but there was little support for new structures outside the communities. And, almost no support for unlimited private development of lake structures.
Other issues in the survey covered values and visions, land use planning and regulations.
“Overall, the majority of respondents indicated support for a wide range of regulations associated with lake and land management and no support for the development of vacant Crown Land bordering the shores of Slocan Lake or development on the lakeshore,” the report said.
Nearly 50 percent of the respondents also indicated that more regulation is needed to ensure that the lake and foreshore is properly managed.
“There was a lot of commonality about what people care about,” said independent consultant Michelle Laurie who prepared the report. “This provides a good building block for moving forward.”
“What is next is a good question for local government. Each local government can find their own information in the report to use in their own planning processes.
Respondents came from the villages of Slocan, New Denver, Silverton, their rural counterparts, as well as Enterprise Creek, Summit Lake and other places like the west side of the lake.
The $37,500 study was funded by the Columbia Basin Trust’s Community Initiatives program and BC Hydro.
DesCamp said the next step is for communities to decide what is appropriate development. “Let’s have the conversation about what we value first.”
DesCamp said she would like to use the information to “put a bunch of energy into education.” And she would like to add to the information gathered to help the RDCK keep on track, conduct more scientific studies, and identify First Nations archaeological sites.
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