On behalf of the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association, I would like to thank Jim D’Andrea from Noble Ridge Vineyards who donated $1000 this year to the Association. This donation is greatly appreciated and will help move some of our planned projects forward.
The election for the Vaseux lake Stewardship Board members took place last month at the general membership meeting and all existing board members were acclaimed. We also added two new board members – Diane Worth and Phyllis Radchenko.
The Association voted to work towards implementing a study on the siltation of the north end of the lake to come up with a recommendation to the Province this year on how best to limit the problem moving forward. The sediment basin at Shuttleworth Creek is now being dredged yearly but this sediment basin is simply not large enough to meet our needs.
Regarding the rototiller issue – after the association and numerous municipalities wrote letters to the Federal and Provincial government we have had some movement in the right direction, The Province is now allowing the rototiller to be used in areas deeper than 2 meters to preserve the Rocky Mountain Mussels. This is a definitely a step forward, considering the Province was not going to allow the rototiller in our lake at all previously due to the endangered mussel. The Okanagan Basin Water Board is moving forward with permitting for our lake and as back up we will ask for the harvester next summer if the milfoil is bad.
The Okanagan Falls Treatment plant’s wetland project is starting at the end of October and should take two years to be fully operational. It will take a few years for the wetland to grow and become efficient in absorbing the heavy metals and other chemicals coming from the plant before entering Vaseux Lake. The Board will also request annual funding from the Regional District to help pay for water testing during the summer months. Vaseux Lake is the only lake in the Okanagan Water Basin where no water quality testing is currently done on a yearly basis.
The annual Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association dues are now past due and we still have a few individuals who haven’t paid. Please make arrangements to make payments as soon as possible. The Board’s ability to apply for funds and have credibility is because over 80% of lake property owners participate in the Association. I think we can all agree that $20.00 per year is not a lot to ask for the Association to work on your and Vaseux Lake’s behalf.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Norm Gaumont
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