The Shuswap Watershed Council (SWC) is at a critical juncture.
A feasibility study which provides recommendations regarding future governance, service delivery and funding is currently undergoing review by the funding partners including: Regional District of North Okanagan, Thompson-Nicola Regional District, City of Salmon Arm, District of Sicamous, and the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District. Decisions made by these political bodies will define the future of the SWC, whether it will continue to exist, and if so, how it will operate and be funded.
Few would argue about the importance of Shuswap Lake and its watershed to our communities from environmental, economic and social perspectives.
Seasonal visitors drive hundreds of miles to enjoy the lake. For many of us, the watershed is our drinking water reservoir. Properties that have a lake view, or are on the waterfront command a higher price than those more distant. Most residents and visitors point to the lake as the major reason why they’re here, and undoubtedly would like to see its water quality defined as pristine.
Achieving good water quality requires monitoring and taking remedial actions, driven by good science, to correct the problems. Prior to the formation of SLIPP, and then the SWC, at least 17 different agencies had responsibility for some aspect of the watershed. These groups operated in silos, didn’t share information with each other, and rarely informed the public about water quality issues. They didn’t work together and had no plans to manage the quality of the water in our watershed.
With SLIPP and now the SWC, we finally have a coordinated monitoring program, a centralized database, a scientific advisory team, a much better understanding of what negative effects have occurred, what remedial actions need to be taken, and we have very good public awareness of these issues. At the Shuswap Watershed Council we have all of the agencies with responsibility for the watershed together at the same table to discuss and properly manage this critical and irreplaceable resource.
So what’s the cost of all of this?
The feasibility study, in evaluating several funding approaches, notes an annual cost of less than $7.00 per parcel to the fund the Shuswap Watershed Council. That seems to be a very reasonable and responsible expenditure to me.
Can we really afford to do nothing in the face of the negative effects that we know have already occurred? What is the cost of doing nothing?
If you believe our watershed is worth $7 a year to you, please let your local politician know your feelings soon.
If you would like to suggest topics for future articles, or participate in our community advisory panel surveys, please contact me at pdemenok@csrd.bc.ca.
-Paul Demenok is the Area C Director for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District.
