Water Retention Dam
We are still waiting for an update on the idea of a dam on our lakes. Should our wet spring weather continue into the summer, water availability will likely not be a factor, however availability of government funding may become an issue for the Lemieux Creek Watershed Roundtable group.
LWBC Meeting
In April, several Executive members traveled to Kamloops to meet with Robin Levesque and Peter Walters of Land and Water BC (aka Integrated Land Management Bureau) in Kamloops. We learned that the mandate for LWBC has changed, with a de-emphasis on revenue from developing crown land and that all development proposals were being re-evaluated. Peter will be presenting our many issues to his superiors and a decision on the future of the currently proposed development, should be made in June.
Newsletter
In May, we distributed to every lake property, the first edition of our general newsletter. For those members with property on the lakes, one was tucked near your door. For the benefit of our members, this newsletter will soon be posted on our website and is attached to the mail-out of the June Quarterly Update. Your feedback to Marie Wallewein would be helpful for the upcoming Fall edition.
Lake Monitoring
In May, Marge Sidney from the Ministry of Environment, took readings on Lac des Roches and Birch Lake with our lake monitors. This surface to bottom monitoring is in addition to the regular measurements, which are taken throughout the summer by our lake monitors on all three lakes.
Stewardship
We are planning to expand our stewardship role to include the major streams in our sensitive watershed, monitoring Deep Creek (between Lac des Roches and Birch Lake) and the larger feeder streams. We are currently members of BCLSS (Lake keepers) and Barry Reid will apply for membership into BC Stream keepers.
Regional Boundary Change
Although there is multi-level government support for this change, Maureen Pinkney of the Cariboo Regional District has indicated that it will be a lengthy process. The Thompson Nicola Regional District is looking at adjusting the boundary lines for all of the lakes that are currently divided. Some residents of area lakes may not be as agreeable to change.
Membership
Gordon Marshall reported at the May General Meeting, our membership totaled 150.
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM is scheduled for August 30 at 7:00 pm at Bridge Lake School. There are several executive positions up for election or re-election for two-year terms.
Petition
Thanks to Cariboo South MLA, Charlie Wyse, our 700-signature petition was formally introduced into the Legislature by on March 30, 2006.
Around the Lake
Gordon Marshall reports that the ice went off Little Lac des Roches (and we think Birch Lake) on April 28 and off Lac des Roches April 30.
Wendy Marshall reports that loon chicks to June 19 on all of Lac des Roches total only three.
The new “dead slow” signage at both ends of the channel have been respected by an abundance of boaters using the lake since the May long weekend.
It has been a very wet May and June and lake levels are high. Boat wakes could potentially be very harmful to waterfowl nests so lake users should take care.