Development unchanged
There is very little to report in the way of a status change on the massive development proposal at the east end of Lac des Roches (LdR). In November we advised Pat Bell, Minister of Agriculture and Lands, that we were prepared to send a delegation to Victoria to discuss our concerns. His reply late in December indicated that “the project is still under review” and we need to continue to deal with Robin Levesque, Manager, Crown Land Opportunities Branch in Kamloops. In early April, we received an email from Robin saying that he is moving to a different ministry, and our new contact is Marie Sturman. Our only action plan at this time is to introduce our group to the new project manager and continue to monitor land applications.
Recycling
Recycling is not one of our group’s objectives, but it is a hot topic and we have discussed it at a couple of our meetings this year. There is definitely interest among our members to heighten the awareness of recycling opportunities for our lake residents. Members will see more information about recycling in our upcoming community newsletter and are invited to provide input through the executive, as it is these folks who will be leading the initiative in the community.
Lake Monitoring
Lake monitoring does not occur during ‘ice on’, but we are watching the ice conditions carefully as the Ministry of Environment will conduct a level 2 survey of LdR as soon as the ice is gone. To improve data collection, we invested in 4 underwater thermometers so that the data from 4 testing sites; LdR, Little LdR, Phinetta and Birch are consistent. We plan to get a complete summer-full of temperature, turbidity and pH readings from Birch and Phinetta Lakes this year.
Boundary Unchanged & Land Use
No change is in store for the regional boundary line that dissects LdR between the Cariboo (CRD) and Thompson-Nicola (TNRD). It is this division that leads to conflicting classifications of LdR as “sensitive” by the CRD and “development” by the TNRD. As a partial solution, Maureen Pinkney of the CRD suggested that a joint Official Community Plan (OCP) could be done for the entire lake and we have jumped at the chance to provide input into this process. The executive is currently researching and developing a map-based land use plan of our watershed area for presentation to the CRD and/or the TNRD for inclusion into their OCP. We will present the draft to our members at the August 29th meeting (our AGM). Members are invited to contact any executive member with land use ideas.
Dam Diverted … for now
We heard rumors to the contrary, but an April email from Graham Strachan, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, confirmed that rather than damming Phinetta Lake for water storage to meet summer irrigation needs in Little Fort, the group has focused their efforts to have the structure on Taweel Lake replaced. We will continue to monitor this project – but the Lac des Roches watershed is excluded at this time.
Around the Lakes …
We saw plenty of snow and thick lake ice this year in the area although the ice will likely be off the lakes by the end of April or very early in May.
There seemed to be an increase in snowmobile traffic on the area trails, many of which are coming from 100 Mile House and beyond. The ambulance responded twice during one winter weekend to sledding-related accidents and we know that a number of local sleds were dragged out of the bush on tow sleds – a typical winter in the Cariboo.
Cellular towers are on the radar screen for Highway 24. Two land applications for towers can be viewed at www.lwbc.ca for a tower at Janice Lake and another above Lac des Roches. While we may be able to anticipate cell coverage at our homes, these will not be used for providing wireless high-speed internet service (unless through the cellular network). Satellite high speed internet is currently our only option to dial up over the phone lines.
All but one of the Cottage Country lots above LdR has sold since initial development of the 27 lots. Development is proceeding on a number of properties now that power has been installed.
General Items
Watch for our annual community newsletter in May. For the enjoyment and information of all lake users, we put together a summary of our activities and a variety of community topics in a newsletter, which is delivered to all lake properties at LdR and Birch Lake. If you would like us to include something specific in this year’s newsletter, we can accept submissions through our website until May 4.
Our membership totals 186.
Please pencil the following meeting dates into your 2007 calendars. We need your input. All meetings are held at 7:00 pm at the Bridge Lake Community School.
- Wed., May 30, 2007 (next General Meeting)
- Wed., July 25, 2007
- Wed., August 29, 2007 (Annual Gen. Meeting)