A number of details in the story “Planned dock removal raises ire of residents and mayor,” printed in the July 31 online edition of the Eagle Valley News are untrue.
Some of the inaccuracies in the story are as follows:
• SLIPP (Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process) has nothing to do with enforcement of legislation or removing docks in trespass of provincial laws and regulations. For more information, see our media release at www.slippbc.ca/16-newsfeed/124-media-release-slipp-does-not-enforce-provincial-or-federal-legislation from earlier this spring.
• SLIPP has a program to remove derelict, abandoned docks. This was agreed to by consensus by the SLIPP steering committee, to focus restoration efforts in this direction.
The following is an excerpt from the story: “Trouton expressed frustration at the way he says SLIPP, a body that proclaims it has no compliance powers, did a catalogue of docks on the lake and promptly handed it over to the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Resource Operations, which has plans to remove several docks in the Sicamous area.
It is unclear which catalogue of docks on which lake the mayor is referring to. If the excerpt above refers to an inventory of structures in Sicamous Narrows conducted in late winter 2012, this is untrue. SLIPP did not undertake the studies or the inventory of structures in Sicamous Narrows. The inventory was completed by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
The issue was brought to a SLIPP steering committee meeting on Jan. 31, 2012, as a courtesy to raise awareness that it was to be undertaken.
If the excerpt above refers to the inventory of structures around the entire Shuswap and Mara lake system, this is untrue. The inventory was done as part of the foreshore inventory modelling, an initiative undertaken by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This was initiated before the SLIPP project began in 2011.
The future of SLIPP, or a successor organization, will be water quality, and perhaps safety – this was agreed to in principle at the June 10 steering committee meeting at the District of Sicamous municipal hall. This is the future for 2014 and beyond. In the meantime, we are still delivering the final year of the three-year pilot project.
Please contact me if you need any further clarification or information on SLIPP, and please visit www.slippbc.com for meeting summaries, reports, and information.
Mike Simpson, SLIPP program manager
