The RCMP have ticketed a careless speeding boater who disrupted their search this week.

Crews were on the lake near the Betrram Creek area on Tuesday, searching for the body of 25 year old Cole Barr.

Police say a boat sped by officers, racing at a dangerous speed - and deliberately tried to disrupt their work.

Acting on a tip from the public, officers went to the boat owner's residence yesterday and issued the person a ticket.

The boater is now facing a 400 dollar fine.

The registered owner is from Alberta, but does own a home along the lake here in Kelowna.

Denise Wong - Kelowna

Revellers on Shuswap and Mara lakes may notice an increased enforcement presence this August long weekend.

And they may not.

The Integrated Shuswap Enforcement Unit, which is made up of officials from the RCMP, conservation officers services, department of fisheries and oceans and B.C. Parks will, for the first-time ever, have a 24-hour enforcement on the lakes this weekend.

“We will have eight patrol vessels rotated on shift patterns throughout the Shuswap Lake Water Basin, which includes Mara Lake,” explained North Okanagan conservation officer Josh Lockwood, a member of the integrated enforcement unit.

“Those eight vessels will be well marked. We will also have vessels on the lake that I will not disclose. They will be used by plain-clothes personnel for covert operations to deal with some of the more evasive violators.”

The unit will be on the water from 2 p.m. Friday to 2 p.m. Monday, the busiest weekend of the year on Shuswap and Mara Lakes, and there will also be a 24-hour policing office manned at Cinnemousun Narrows, the centre of the four Arms – North, Seymour, Anestey and Canoe Reach – on Shuswap Lake.

Shuswap houseboat companies have posted notices regarding the most common violations on the lake on all of their houseboats, so everybody on a houseboat will have the information.

The unit will also be looking for improperly registered boats, checking for operator licences, life jackets and people operating personal watercraft under the prohibited age of 16. They will also be actively pursuing impaired operators of motor vessels.

“Our enforcement vessel will have a certified breathalyzer operator on board and a data master machine,” said Lockwood.

“Officers in the boat will have access to an alcohol roadside screening device to put together an investigation for the impaired operation of a motor vessel.

“The purpose of our enforcement this weekend is public safety. We are not there to spoil your weekend. Nothing will spoil your weekend faster than having a loved one injured or drown.”

Tickets for offenders can range from $115 to $500 while the improper registration of a boat brings a fine of $287.50.

“What we’re seeing is that a number of boats have been purchased in the U.S. then brought across the border through Canadian Border Services. The documentation that’s done for there is for taxes,” said Lockwood.

“Those boats need to be re-registered with the Canadian registry. People are handing off California, Nevada and Oregon registry which is not acceptable.

“Boats from outside Canada need to be re-registered at the Access Centre or online,” said Lockwood.

In the recent weeks and months there have been several incidents, fatalities and drownings in Okanagan lakes, including a July long weekend accident involving a houseboat and speedboat that killed a Shuswap resident.

Lockwood said planning for the August long weekend has been in the works for sometime, even prior to the Shuswap accident.

At the end of May, compliance checks for such things as fishing licences and life jackets were conducted on Mabel Lake.

Lockwood said 26 boats were checked and all 26 were in non-compliance.

Locally, area RCMP will be patrolling Mabel and Okanagan Lakes, as well as the Shuswap River, to make sure everyone has a safe August long weekend.

Problems continue to pop in the Gellatly Bay area of West Kelowna.

Mayor Doug Findlater says a lack of parking is a big issue.

"Anywhere you go to a beach, on a hot day, it's a long walk to get near the water. I think maybe we can maybe make some minor improvements that would squeeze a few more parking spaces out and organize it better."

Councillor Carol Zanon expressed some concern over the dock at the boat launch and directed staff to put up some danger signs in the area, which will go up this weekend.

Work on the boat launch will begin after the boating season is complete, sometime in October.

Matt Folkard - Kelowna

Transport Canada and the RCMP teamed up this past week for a series of on-water patrol blitzes aboard a Transport Canada Zodiac currently stationed in the Okanagan.

Boating safety patrols were conducted on Okanagan, Kalamalka, Wood and Mabel Lakes.

On Okanagan Lake, patrols were launched from Kelowna, Summerland and Penticton. Boaters were also checked on local boat ramps for operator cards and safety equipment.

Approximately $1,500 in fines were issued for such offences as missing fire extinguishers, safety equipment not in good working order, no proof of operator competency on board (pleasure craft operator card), towing without a spotter, towing without enough seats for every person being towed and insufficient number of lifejackets.

In addition, 30 boats were escorted back to shore and prohibited from operating until they met the safety requirements of the Canada Shipping Act and the Small Vessel Regulations.

Fines range from $115 to $575.

Not carrying enough lifejackets carries a fine of $230 for the first missing one and $115 for each additional missing one. Lifejackets and PFDs must be Canadian-approved and in good repair. Check your flotation devices before heading out. Boaters are encouraged to always wear a PFD when on the water.

These patrols were conducted to help ensure safe boating is enjoyed by all those on Okanagan waterways. Transport Canada, RCMP and Conservation Officer joint patrols will continue throughout the summer.

Boaters are reminded to read the Transport Canada Safe Boating Guide before hitting the water or visit

www.boatingsafety.gc.ca.

Summer started slowly this year which kept traffic light at the Kalavista boat launch but recent warm weather has people flocking back and the same problems are cropping up.

That’s according to Kalavista Neighbourhood Committee chairman Norm Hladun who believes council and local officials are doing the best they can but also that more help is needed.

“It’s a difficult area because it’s so small,” said Hladun. “There’s lots of users using the same limited infrastructure.

“These are not easily solved problems; it’s a matter of enforcing the rules so people don’t flaunt the rules.”

But rule enforcement is difficult to execute. The District of Coldstream uses the services of the Commissionaires at the boat launch but they are responsible to make circuits of the lake, checking out each site, meaning there are long periods of time when a given launch is unsupervised.

The only other source of enforcement at the boat launch would be from the RCMP but as Coldstream bylaw officer Bob Bibby noted, it’s not realistic to expect an officer sitting there all day.

“They can’t station an RCMP officer there full time,” he said. “We’re working with the resources we’ve got.”

Hladun has other specific concerns including vehicles waiting to use the launch and stopping on Kalavista Road. This forces drivers to go into the wrong lane to get around but the Commissionaires are not able to penalize motorists blocking traffic

“There’s a jurisdictional thing as well,” said Bibby. “The Commissionaires are there to hand out parking tickets and that’s it.

“As far as crossing traffic lines, that’s RCMP.”

Bibby said he hasn’t had an increase in complaints about the area and that the number of parking tickets issued has not gone up noticeably from last year. He says boating traffic is directly tied to the weather.

“When the sun comes out and it’s hot, everyone heads to the boat launch,” he said. “May and June were slow but the July long weekend was busy.

During busy times, two Commissionaires patrol the area with one staying stationary and the other completing the boat launch circuit.

“Their presence tends to keep people honest,” said Bibby.

Yet for residents like Hladun, who says cars are frequently parked illegally in front of his home, more enforcement remains the goal.

“It’s just as problematic as it has been in the past,” he said. “My own personal view is to keep (the launch) it open but properly managed.

“We’ll get a solution eventually; I hope it’s not the closure of the launch.

“People here are pretty patient but it gets to be a legal issue.”

Rent a boat at the Eldorado, Kelowna BC

500 Cook Road
763-DOCK
250-763-3625
1-866-608-7500
www.eldoradokelowna.com

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The District of West Kelowna has received a licence of occupation from the Province of British Columbia for the portion of Gellatly Bay directly abutting district Property and will begin immediate enforcement of inappropriate use in the Bay.

The district received word Friday afternoon that its application to the Integrated Land Management Bureau of the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands for a licence of occupation for Gellatly Bay was approved.

The licence entitles the district, as owner of the land abutting a portion of Gellatly Bay, to enforce appropriate uses of this portion of the bay, in line with the W1 (Water Use – Recreational) Zone previously established for the area. This zoning allows only temporary moorage and prohibits moorage of floating residential vessels.

The district will immediately begin taking the following enforcement steps:

*Mailing a letter of notice to known owners of any vessels currently moored in Gellatly Bay

*Posting this same letter directly on the vessels currently moored in Gellatly Bay

The letter states vessel owners have 30 days from June 28, 2010 to remove the vessel from the bay. If the vessels are not removed, the district will have them towed to a safe moorage site. The cost of towing and storage are the responsibility of the vessel owner. Towed vessels will be stored for 30 days, after which, if the vessels are still unclaimed, the towing company will be free to take action to recover its costs of towing and storage.

“We have been facing the problem of unwelcome moorage in Gellatly Bay for almost two years now and I know this news will be welcomed by many residents,” said Mayor Doug Findlater.

“It’s been a long time coming, but the end is near and the district now has jurisdiction over these important waters and a solid agreement for its management with our neighbours, Westbank First Nation.”

On June 22, the District of West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation announced the signing of a joint management agreement for Gellatly Bay. Both governments have agreed to respect each other’s jurisdiction and interest in the protection of Okanagan Lake, its foreshore and Gellatly Bay in particular. By signing the binding agreement, both councils have committed that management of Gellatly Bay will be carried out through a joint management committee established under the agreement. The committee will be comprised of two representatives from each government. The committee will consider and recommend policies regarding the public and private use of Gellatly Bay, as stipulated in the W1 Zone.

The district has established a W1 Zone on all waters fronting lands within the District of West Kelowna which prohibits moorage of floating residential structures such as houseboats.

“With the W1 Zone in place everywhere else in the district, if the houseboats move to a different location within the district, we are ready to enforce appropriate uses,” said Findlater.

As the busy summer season approaches, the boat launch at Okanagan Centre Safe Harbour Regional Park is temporarily open again.

Higher water levels on Okanagan Lake and more detailed investigation of the existing main launch have identified a temporary repair that will be made shortly, allowing the Central Okanagan Regional District to make the main launch available for use by boaters.

“This is a temporary fix so that we can get the popular launch back in service for the recreational boating community,” said Brent Smith, communications co-ordinator.

“Our staff will monitor the lake level and the condition of the boat launch daily.”

The main launch at the Lake Country park has been closed since January because the farthest pads were damaged and separating which, combined with low lake water levels, could result in potential damage to vehicles, trailers and boats.

CORD is still planning to replace the complete launch structure later this summer as new, engineered pads must be installed.

“This will likely result in another temporary closure while work takes place on site, the concrete is poured, cured and the new pads are installed,” said Smith. “We recently received the environmental approvals we were seeking to conduct work in the water while protecting the fish spawning habitat.”

Until Sept. 30, the gate to the park, boat launch, small beach and parking area along Okanagan Centre Road is locked daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Houseboats will be given the boot from Gellatly Bay before the end of this summer, according to the District of West Kelowna.

Director of building and regulatory services Dave Slobodan told council this week that his staff has already begun making preparations to serve eviction notices.

Between 13 and 18 houseboats are consistently moored in Gellatly Bay and they will be required to leave within the next three to eight weeks, according to Slobodan.

The municipality is awaiting arrival of a licence of occupation for Gellatly Bay, which would permit the municipality to regulate uses in the bay in place of the provincial government.

“We’ve identified each of those owners of these crafts, so that when we get the licence of occupation, we’re able to notify those owners as quickly as possible,” stated Slobodan.

“Once we have the licence of occupation, we have authority under part six of the Land Act so we can then notify those owners and ask them to leave the bay.”

Chief administrative officer Jason Johnson said that the licence of occupation should be in the municipality’s hands within the next two to three weeks.

Staff would then be in a position to post 30-day eviction notices on the crafts and send letters to the owners advising of new moorage restrictions in the bay.

“We wanted to make sure the public was aware of our enforcement strategy and perhaps people might want to start coming into compliance before the enforcement strategy comes into place next month,” said Johnson.

It’s not just houseboats that will be required to move, mentioned Slobodan.

“We’re actually looking at all the vessels in Gellatly Bay.”

That means upland property owners living on Angus Drive would also be prohibi permanently mooring their vessels, like speedboats or sailboats, in the bay.

Commercial vessels moored in the bay would also be required to leave, Slobodan stated.

“If the vessels are not removed within 30 days we do have contact with a towing company that has the ability to move them out. Owners will then have another 30 days to claim their vessels,” Slobodan noted.

Boat owners would be required to pay towing and storage costs to reclaim their boats, he noted.

The municipality plans to place signage at the Gellatly Bay boat launch and other locations around the bay, advising that overnight and permanent moorage would be prohibited, said Slobodan.

Moorage buoys are also going to be removed from the bay, he noted.

“We will ask for those buoys to be removed with the houseboats or the vessels. The ones that aren’t removed, staff will put a strategy together to remove those.”

Staff will then put together a strategy to add municipal buoys to Gellatly Bay to be used for temporary moorage only.

“For people coming in for the day to just dock their boat and spend time in Gellatly Bay.

“Temporary moorage, in our definition, is not overnight––you can’t stay overnight.”

Bylaw services will be constantly monitoring of the bay to ensure compliance, the municipality stated.

The municipality has been trying to prohibit houseboat moorage in Gellatly Bay since October 2008 when residents living on land overlooking the bay complained that the vessels were a blight on the landscape, ruining their lake views and the public’s enjoyment of the waterfront.

Some residents also feared that people who were living permanently on some of the boats were dumping effluent into Okanagan Lake, allegations which boat owners have denied.

jluciw "at" kelownacapnews.com

The District of West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation signed a new agreement this month that will see the two governments jointly manage Gellatly Bay.

Both governments have agreed to respect each other’s jurisdiction and interest in the protection of Okanagan Lake, its foreshore and Gellatly Bay in particular.

By signing the binding joint management agreement, both council’s have committed that management of Gellatly Bay will be carried out through a joint management committee established under the agreement.

It will be comprised of two representatives from each government.

The committee of four will consider and recommend policies regarding the public and private use of Gellatly Bay, under the water use-recreational zone, which West Kelowna has already established for the area. This zone prohibits moorage of floating residential structures, such as houseboats, boat houses and boat shelters and only allows temporary boat moorage accessory to the use of the immediately abutting upland parcel.

“This is another tremendous step forward for the District of West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation as we continue to recognize that we are more than just neighbours,” said West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater.

“Our interests, assets and goals are so often inter-laced and West Kelowna Council is very pleased to continue to work towards mutual decisions that benefit both our organizations and our residents.”

Chief Robert Louie agreed.

“WFN has always believed in the benefits of working together locally as governments to find innovative and forward thinking ways to collaborate and get things done by creating a solid foundation for addressing the needs of our governments, our citizens and the community at large,” Louie said.

“As caretakers responsible for the protection and stewardship of the lands and water in our traditional territory, we are proud to be partners in the protection of our lake, its foreshore and the future health and enjoyment of these areas.”

West Kelowna has applied to the Integrated Land Management Bureau of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands for a licence of occupation for Gellatly Bay.

The WFN has asserted aboriginal title and rights over the bay and intends to file a specific claim for past government actions that resulted in a loss of foreshore lands.

The agreement recognizes each government’s interest in Gellatly Bay and ensures that each will work cooperatively in good faith and in a respectful manner to manage Gellatly Bay for the purposes of environmental conservation and passive recreation.

jluciw "at" kelownacapnews.com

A proposal to triple the size of the marina at Lake Okanagan Resort, near Wilson’s Landing, is lacking input, according to the Central Okanagan Regional District.

The board weighed in Monday night on the resort’s application to the B.C. Ministry of Environment to increase the size of its moorage facility from 58 berths to 158 slips.

Before agreeing to conditionally support the application to the ministry, however, the board sought clarification on a few issues, including the size of the proposed expansion and opportunities for public and First Nations’ feedback.

The board began by questioning why so many slips would be needed when the resort has only 79 rooms.

Resort spokesman Doug Fry said that the larger marina was in keeping with an expansion plan for tourist and residential accommodation.

“It contemplates up to 500 residential units on that land. Currently there are just in excess of 230 including two new buildings.”

Resort expansion would be subject to market conditions, noted Fry, offering no firm timelines for full build out.

Fry also noted that the marina expansion has been reduced in scope since the resort originally applied to the ministry in 2006.

The initial application called for 296 slips, plus moorage for 10 houseboats, a storage house for water toys and fuel station on the lake.

The size was reduced because of potential impacts on kokanee salmon spawning grounds, regional district staff noted.

Fry then mentioned that a fuel pump station and a small water toy and life jacket storage facility would still be included in the plans, but added at a later date.

The provision for houseboat slips was removed, he said.

Central Okanagan West electoral area director Jim Edgson said he had opportunity to speak with area residents at a recent meeting concerning the marina application.

They’re pleased so far with what they see, according to the director.

“They’re wildly ecstatic there won’t be any houseboats. That’s number one.

Number two, is they welcome and support fully the reduction in the dock size,” said Edgson.

“They would like to see the fuelling establishment there. They need a fueling facility.”

However, board chairman Robert Hobson noted that residents should also be able to express their views, either for or against the marina, directly to the applicant.

The regional board said it would support the marina expansion application, provided the environment ministry required the applicant to hold a public information session.

It also wanted the ministry to ensure the Westbank First Nation and Okanagan Nation Alliance were consulted concerning the revised application, noting they were consulted at the time of the original application in 2006, but not since.

The board also wanted to ensure the marina was monitored full time and that environmental safeguards were in place including the use of a proven catch system to prevent spills into the lake at the fueling station.

The board said it would also like to receive annual reports on the marina’s impacts on water quality, which the applicant has promised to monitor for at least 10 years.

jluciw "at" kelownacapnews.com

Golden brown and stinky and very much in evidence, an algal bloom discovered May 11 at the south end of Mara Lake now covers the entire lake and beyond.

Streaks of the algae were seen in Shuswap Lake near Sicamous and towards Marble Point May 14, says Gabriele Matscha, environmental section head with the Ministry of Environment.

“It seems to move back and forth and is still covering the entire (Mara) lake,” Matscha said, noting the bloom is sometimes on the surface and other times below.

“It can actually move three metres in depth.”

The single-celled algae, ochromonas, is most common in spring and in nutrient-poor waters.

It is the same algae that made up the Shuswap Lake bloom of 2008 that stretched some 50 kilometres from Salmon Arm Bay to Cinnemousin Narrows.

“This algae thrives in clear water during the spring, while competition from other algae is still relatively low,” says Matscha. “Since these conditions are usually present for very short periods in the spring, blooms of this algae are short-lived and do not occur in the summer.”

Matscha says a “perfect storm” scenario of environmental factors allows the algae to grow faster than normal, sometimes doubling over one to two days.

As to what caused the bloom first discovered near the mouth of the Shuswap River, Matscha says, increased water flow in April makes the river a likely source for organic matter and nutrient input necessary for a bloom.

“MOE is monitoring the lake daily at this point to try to explain what is happening,” Matscha says. “It’s about understanding the complexities and potential causes of the bloom.”

But Shuswap Environmental Action Society president Jim Cooperman does not think the ministry is doing enough.

“We all think that these blooms are a sign of lake water quality deterioration and we’re concerned the ministry does not take the same viewpoint,” he says.

“The only way we’re going to get to the root of the problem is by adopting the water quality monitoring program as recommended by SLIPP (Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process).

Matscha, however, says MOE is working with several partners, including the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Interior Health, Shuswap Water Action Team Society, Swansea Point Community Association and other residents to monitor water quality in the lakes.

“Our office has worked and is working with various partners on seven water quality projects in the Shuswap and Mara lakes in 2009 and 2010,” she says. “We focus more water quality monitoring efforts on Shuswap Lake than on any other area in our region.”

Matscha says there is no evidence the algae is toxic to humans, pets or livestock.

An aerial view of Mara Lake with the orange algae visible.  Photo contributed

It looks similar, it smells similar and it’s covering most of Mara Lake.

But whether a suspected algal bloom is the same as the Shuswap Lake one that stretched from Salmon Arm Bay to Sicamous in June 2008, was yet to be determined at the Shuswap Market News press deadline.

Tina Keeley, Mara Lake resident and co-ordinator of a 15-member Shuswap Water Action Team (SWAT) water testing crew, got a call about 2 p.m. Tuesday advising her that what was suspected to be an algal bloom had been spotted at the south end of Mara Lake.

A couple of hours later, Keeley received another call, this time from a Swansea Point volunteer.

“She said she could see it – rust, brown, yellow in streaks and a putrid smell,” said Keeley. “She figured it stretched from Swansea Dock to Black Point, close to the entrance of Turtle Bay.

“From what she could see, she suggested 60 to 70 metres long and about 20 metres across.”

Keeley called the Ministry of Environment to report the sighting and says staff responded quickly, promising to send staff out the following morning.

“We rounded up a bunch of water testers and asked them to take samples and tell us if and where they spotted the bloom,” says Keeley, noting that her biggest concern was to inform everyone who gets water from the lake not to drink it until they knew what they were dealing with.

When Keeley and her husband went out on the lake Wednesday morning the bloom had sunk below the surface.

“We headed south to the slide area on Highway 97A and were right in the middle of it, about five to six feet below the surface of the water, all big huge yellow swirls, but no smell,” she says. “We drifted and it would come around the boat, then it would be gone. Whether it’s breaking up or sinking because of the cold nights we don’t know.”

Gabriele Matscha, an environmental section head in MOE’s Kamloops office, said Wednesday her staff were on Mara Lake collecting samples which were to be tested by an algal specialist Thursday.

“I cannot comment on whether it is the same, but similarities have been observed,” Matscha said referring to the 2008 Shuswap Lake bloom that was similar in time of year, colour and associated odour. “Their report indicates a threat that it’s likely an algal bloom that has spread from Shuswap River to Mara Point.”

Testing was expected to reveal algae type, concentration and potential risks of the algae to human and the environment, said Matscha, noting MOE planned to release a question and answer sheet once the details became available. Matscha said MOE staff will continue to investigate in a step-by-step process to find both causes and the source of the bloom.

Environmentalists were vocal about the appearance of the bloom.

“Once again, we’re facing a large algal bloom that is like the canary in the coal mine,” said Shuswap Environmental Action Society president Jim Cooperman. “It points to serious problems in Shuswap and Mara lakes and the need for a Shuswap watershed council as recommended by SLIPP (Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process).”

SWAT president Ray Nadeau calls the algal bloom another indication of excess nutrients being put into the lake from various sources.

Jurisdiction for motorized boats remains with the Province/Federal governments. What process would there be to move forward with limiting the use of gas motorized boats? SEKID may be interested in doing this application but ultimate the authority is with the Federal government.

Remember that flap about getting your boating licence last September when it officially became a binding rule?

It hasn’t gone away. And boaters face a $250 fine if they’re caught operating a motor craft without a licence.

Luckily, there are plenty of places in the Okanagan to get certified and once you do, it’s good for life.

In Vernon, there will be test-taking opportunities three times every week until Labour Day weekend.

Charleen Powell, of High Response Water Sports (Facebook link), gives the exam on behalf of Transport Canada and is stationed just outside Canadian Tire on 27th Street every Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., excluding long weekends.

Powell says people need to take the licence process more seriously.

“When cars came out, you didn’t need a driver’s licence but people kept crashing,” she said. “Boating got so popular, now it’s the same as having a driver’s licence.”

She says Transport Canada’s research indicates only a third of boat owners currently have a licence. An avid boater herself, Powell says some people’s boating practices are appalling.

“It is scary because one of the biggest mistakes people make is picking people (in the water) up on the left-hand side,” she said. “You can drive over them so easily.”

If you’re not well-versed in proper boating techiniques, don’t sweat it too much. Powell will go over some of the basics in advance of you writing the test.

“I have a crash course I give people beforehand,” she said, adding things like port and starboard side and red and green directions cause new boaters some confusion. “I walk people through some examples before they sit down and write.”

The exam costs $60 to write but you don’t have to pay if you don’t pass.

There is also a test-writing facility at the Canadian Tire in Kelowna and there will soon be stations at the Kamloops and Salmon Arm locations too.

“Now, it doesn’t matter who you are, you have to have a licence,” said Powell. “Anyone can write one though kids under 16 can only operate maximum 40 horse-power boats.”

Cash or credit cards are acceptable when paying for your exam.

Public demand to access local lakes is the driving force behind a proposed study.

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee will pursue a consultant to review the current status of boat launches and future needs on Okanagan and Kalamalka lakes.

“We need to look at capacities and any environmental impacts,” said director Doug Dirk.

“It will be valuable information for everyone.”

The terms of reference for the study are an inventory of boat launches, projecting the demand for boat access over the next 20 years, providing recommendations on how to meet public demands and surveying the public to determine satisfaction on boat access.

The process will also provide recommendations on how launching facilities should be provided and managed.

It’s essentially been determined there isn’t room for additional launches on Kalamalka Lake.

“Other than Kekuli Bay, where are you going to go? The options are pretty much zero,” said Al McNiven, parks and recreation manager.

GVAC recently learned that B.C. Parks is considering expanding Kekuli Bay Provincial Park on Highway 97 subject to provincial budget approval.

“The plan is to expand parking capacity from 46 stalls to 83 stalls,” said McNiven.

These plans come at the same time that some residents have complained about traffic and other issues at the GVAC launch on Kalavista Drive in Coldstream.

“Doubling Kekuli Bay will have a big impact and alleviate congestion,” said Dirk.

There are also issues on Okanagan Lake, with the Paddlewheel Park launch being extremely busy during the summer.

“We’ve seen growth down in that area and that’s increased demand,” said McNiven.

It’s anticipated that the boat launch study could cost between $65,000 and $70,000 to complete.

Effective immediately, the boat launch at the Okanagan Centre Safe Harbour Regional Park is closed.

Communications Coordinator Bruce Smith says, “One of the concrete pads has broken and there is exposed rebar so unfortunately it’s not safe for use. Until environmental approvals are received and the repairs are complete people with smaller boats and trailers may choose to use the area to the south of the closed boat launch. Because of the low lake water level anyone with a large boat should not use the Safe Harbour to launch. Instead, they should launch or trailer their vessel in other locations such as the District of Lake Country Coral Beach launch in Carrs Landing or the City of Kelowna Water Street or Cook Street boat launches.”

The Regional District apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. Smith adds, “Even though the launch itself is closed, the Safe Harbour still provides shelter and refuge for boaters during storms, poor weather conditions or other emergency needs at any time.”

From October through the end of April, the gate to the Regional Park, boat launch, small beach and parking area along Okanagan Centre Road in Lake Country is not locked. Between May 1st and September 30th, the gate is locked daily from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am.

(January 28, 2010)

Source Regional District of Central Okanagan "What's New"

A Coldstream resident is accusing government of leaving boaters high and dry.

Brent Vinoly is concerned the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee spent considerable money on upgrades to the Kalavista Drive boat launch but those have been reversed by the District of Coldstream.

“We want government to recognize the need to maximize the existing facility at the Kalavista launch,” he told GVAC Thursday.

“It’s the only functional launch on the north end of Kalamalka Lake and it plays a vital role for residents throughout the North Okanagan.”

Vigoly, who said he represented lake users, says expanded parking was reduced because of complaints from a few immediate neighbours. He also questions the Kalavista committee set up by Coldstream.

“It appears to be a special interest group.”

Vinoly asked GVAC for co-ordination between agencies on the launch, a study to determine long-term launch needs on the lake and for posts to be removed so the parking lot can be expanded again.

He also believes there is a need for more security and a user fee to help manage parking.

Director Jim Garlick, who is also Coldstream’s mayor, points out that the parking lot is municipal property and vehicles were removed from the grass for a reason.

“It made a mess. There was mud in there,” he said, adding that it wasn’t appropriate to have vehicles right against the tennis court.

Garlick also raised concerns about Vinoly’s suggestion that launch use be maximized.

“The more draw you have, the more problems you’ll have,” he said of traffic and safety issues.

Director Gyula Kiss believes boaters should use the Kekuli Bay launch on Highway 97 and he defended Kalavista Drive residents.

“If you can’t access your own property because of boat trailers, you wouldn’t be very happy,” he said.

But Vinoly refuted that argument.

“The boat launch has been in existence for decades and and people who purchased property there knew the boat launch was there,” he said.

A group of tundra swans from Alaska have made their home here on Okanagan Lake this winter, including one young female who was banded in King Salmon, Alaska last summer.

Banding birds helps in monitoring migration habits, but it’s only useful as long as someone spots the band and reports it.

Capital News photographer Sean Connor’s image of this one has established that there is a group over-wintering here in the Okanagan this year instead of flying all the way south to California where most of the western population of tundra swans migrate.

The eastern population travels from Alaska to the Atlantic coast to overwinter.

Biologist Rick Howie, who has been involved in gathering data on B.C. birds for 45 years or so, confirms that there are usually some tundra swans that winter in the Kelowna area.

It has become a traditional wintering area for a group of them.

With their long necks, tundra swans gather submerged aquatic vegetation along the shoreline, along with some insect larva and snails, he said.

They can eat 15 to 20 pounds of wet vegetation a day—even more if it’s colder, although they are well-insulated with their feathers.

However, if ice forms along the lakeshore where the water is shallow, it blocks their feeding areas and forces them to move on.

They do require open water that’s about a metre deep in order to feed, and it needs to have aquatic vegetation on which they can feed.

Howie pointed out that no inventory has been done on that type of aquatic vegetation and where it’s available.

Naturalists’ clubs in the interior do a mid-January count of swans and eagles and two tundra swans were recorded by the Kelowna group this year, said Howie.

Although their numbers have remained pretty stable in the past 30 years, the growth in the trumpeter swan population overwintering in the Kamloops area has grown so much the smaller tundra swans have been pushed out, he noted.

He said there were 400 counted on the Thompson River, but said in some peak years, there have been 1,000 tundra swans in the Kamloops area over winter.

The banded one spotted by Connor will likely head back up to Alaska in the spring to build a nest and lay her eggs in a nest on the tundra.

Howie says often the family stays together, even while migrating, and during the migration they will be joined by other birds enroute to the nesting grounds in Alaska.

Little is done to protect the wintering spots of these large and dramatic white birds with their long, graceful necks, he commented.

Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada maintain a website with details of sites designated as sensitive, called Important Bird Areas or IBAs, but Howie said that designation has no legal status.

“It doesn’t actually protect them for birds,” he commented.

However, it is an opportunity for volunteers to get involved in bird surveys across Canada, and to learn more about what is being done.

Go to: www.ibacanada.com

jsteeves "at" kelownacapnews.com

There is still no decision on whether several Mission homeowners will keep the boat docks and launches built out in front of their homes.

Tuesday evening, council heard the Southbay Landing Strata Corporation, whose 30 multi-million dollar South Mission homes the docks were built for, saw a mix-up when Rykon Construction built their docks.

Where the licence granted by the province gave the strata permission for 28 slips with nine boat lifts, the construction company effectively goofed, building a dock of the same size as the licence allowed, though with two additional slips.

Some 17 extra lifts gradually arrived on scene as individual homeowners installed them, council heard, though there was never a licence to do so.

The matter would likely never have come before council had it not been for complaints from neighbours Ava and Wayne Fipke, who spoke at the hearing as well.

The couple brought the issue to the City of Kelowna four years ago and were sent on to the province as the city has no jurisdiction over the licence to enforce the rules, they were told.

In the four years since, Ava Fipke told the Capital News she’s had little success even getting the ear of any government employee.

The public hearing into the matter ran into the early hours of Nov. 18, at which point council decided to postpone making a decision on the issue.

jsmith "at" kelownacapnews.com

5.4 Update - Foreshore Structure Bylaw

As requested by the Regional Board, staff report dated February 26th outlined the background on the Regional District's plan for a Foreshore Structure Bylaw. The bylaw is in draft form now and staff are consulting with other regional districts for consideration on what they would include in such a bylaw. A budget is being developed as well as a foreshore guideline brochure.

#GS19/09 SHEPHERD/GIVEN
THAT the February 26, 2009 staff report update on the Foreshore Structure Bylaw be received.

CARRIED

Shelter Bay Marina on Okanagan Lake, located along the shoreline of West Kelowna adjacent to the William Bennett Bridge, is one spot for boat moorage.

A recent study and very public consultation process on the state of boat moorage in the Central Okanagan raised the expectations of the public, according to the consultant in charge.

With the release of a new 20-year plan and study on Okanagan boating habits, people are going to expect action, consultant Doris Haas, of GDH Solutions, told Kelowna city council this week.

“The public wants to be kept in the loop,” she said adding: “It’s their hope this is not going to wind up on some shelf.”

The council is just one of many stakeholders expected to adopt the document, dubbed a “blue print” for dealing with valley-wide boating issues.

Moorage space rests around 30 per cent under the current demand level and the problem is expected to multiply if organized government intervention does not occur, Haas said.

Already, one in four Okanagan households claims some form of boat ownership (37 per cent in the City of Kelowna), according to results from an Ipsos Reid Survey conducted as part of the study work.

From mid-May to mid-September an estimated 53,000 boats are launched from Peachland to Lake Country on the 27 public sites and almost three quarters of those boats are local.

“Boating has a large economic impact,” said Haas, adding that it can draw a lot of tourists as well.

Greeted with lineups at the few launches and moorage sites we do have, like those that occur outside the El Dorado Hotel site off Cook Street, those tourists may turn and run.

The Okanagan is also missing out on valuable economic stimulus by failing to provide town-centred temporary moorage, places for locals and tourists to tie up and go exploring in local shops and restaurants, she said.

The report suggests the city take immediate action by adding temporary moorage buoys, potentially with a fee-for-service charge and building more boat launches, as the private sector has little interest in doing so given the costs involved.

She suggested it’s likely possible to pursue deals on developments with applications already in the city’s system to garner more public access to the privately owned pieces of waterfront.

“There was a consensus that government should get involved,” Haas concluded.

“If you just let the private sector do it, then that, at the end of the day, will limit public access to the water.”

Without a concrete recommendation to move on this week, however, Coun. André Blanleil said he wasn’t satisfied with the pace of action.

Haas’ report came with a recommendation the regional district take the lead in forming a multi-government stakeholder committee to start implementing the directions of the blueprint. Blanleil worried aloud the city might be passing the buck. “It’s been two years and we’ve done nothing so far. I guess I’m just a little frustrated,” he said.

Boating is an affordable option for many residents to get to know and enjoy the Okanagan, he said, as everyone from rowboat owners to small powerboat operators should have free access to the lake.

“I think there’s sometimes the perception that we build these facilities for tourists,” he said. “But it’s the local people I’m hearing from.”

“…Today you can’t buy a boat if you live in a multi-family development because there is nowhere to put it.”

City staff member David Graham responded by telling Blanleil he did not understand what was being purposed. The document itself will lead to action if it’s directed through the bureaucracy properly, he suggested.

The blue print is to go on to all city departments before the fall so its recommendations can be reviewed before the 2010 budget; although it may not see movement then either, Graham said.

Anything below the high-water mark will require other jurisdictions, provincial and federal involvement, meaning more negotiations and agreements will need to take place and there are plenty of other budgetary considerations, he noted.

The recommendations from the report include:

• that the regional district establish a coordinating body to deal with the issue

• that all four local governments—Peachland, Kelowna, Lake Country, West Kelowna—adopt the study recommendations as a blueprint for developing recreational marine facilities

• all proposed marine facilities be assessed for potential public-private partnerships

• environmental considerations, particularly with regard to sensitive foreshore development be considered

• foreshore environmental mapping be undertaken for Wood and Kalamalka Lakes

• developing marine facilities, particularly boat launches, marinas and boat channels be given high priority by local government

• a moorage buoy policy be developed.

A complete copy of the study and recommendations can be found on the city’s website, www.kelowna.ca, under the city projects tab.

Kelowna city council has not committed to anything more than participating in the coordinating body and forwarding report to various internal departments at this time.

jsmith [at] kelownacapnews.com

Photo of the fish

As more and more people flock to the Okanagan to vacation or live, there is more activity on

Okanagan Lake by all kinds of sun worshipers. But when it comes to fishing the number of anglers on the lake is drastically down compared to two

decades ago. But the health of the fish are coming back and a trophy fishery sits right on our doorstep, nearly untouched by any kind of pressure. Capital News reporter Kevin Parnell looks into the health of the rainbow trout fishery on Okanagan Lake.

The morning we went out on the big lake it was cool. Radio said minus three. No wind as we launched, saving the chill factor for another day.

The calendar said late November.

We were heading out on Okanagan Lake in search of a monster. No, not Ogopogo. A monster of a different sort. This one seems just as enigmatic. A monster. A lunker. A trophy.

Call it what you want. In the Interior of B.C. the sport fisherman’s dream is to catch a trophy rainbow trout, something with some size. Like those pictured on this page.

No, that’s not me. But those are Okanagan Lake rainbow.

They’re out there, in the lake that is a boater’s paradise, a marketers dream, a sun-seekers salvation.

But is it a fishing destination? I had never thought so. Until this year.

•••

When you look at the gong show that is boating on Okanagan Lake, it’s tough to picture an angler sitting in an aluminum boat, trolling his lure or fly. There’s just not that much room.

But in the shoulder seasons of early spring and late fall, when the cigar boats are locked up for another season, there is some excellent fishing to be had on Okanagan Lake.

Rainbow trout weighing upwards of 10 pounds are not out of the ordinary. Twenty-pounders plus are said to lurk in the clear, cold waters.

“It’s a tough lake to fish but it can be very rewarding,” said Rod Hennig, the owner of Rodney’s Reel Outdoors, a fish guiding service that has been in operation for three years.

“It’s all about getting that chance at the big one. The action might not be as fast and furious as in a mountain lake, but when you do get an Okanagan Lake rainbow they’re a beautiful fish. They’re large and they fight really well.”

Hennig has seen his fair share of big ones come out of the lake. The biggest into his boat touched nearly 18 pounds, a trophy catch. He routinely gets clients into five to 15 pound rainbows out of Okanagan Lake. But sometimes people have a hard time believing it.

“I had some clients fish the lake from Saskatchewan and they took pictures of their fish,” recalled Hennig. “In talking to people in the restaurant and pub that they went to, no one could believe they caught them in Okanagan Lake. It’s that old saying that there are no fish in the lake. As a fishery, Okanagan Lake is nowhere near its potential. How we can get it there is up to the biologists.”

•••

The biologist in charge of Okanagan Lake and this region’s eight other “large” lakes is Paul Askey. The 32-year-old, based at the provincial ministry of environment’s Penticton office, was raised as a sport fisherman in the East Kootenays.

Askey’s job is to figure out how many fish are in a lake, find out why, and figure out how to make the fishery better, making recommendations about things like catch quotas.

Along with Okanagan Lake, he is also in charge of Kalamalka Lake, Wood Lake, Mabel Lake, Christina Lake and

Osoyoos Lake.

“The large lakes are neat because they are wild ecosystems,” said Askey. “We have no stocking of wild lakes. The preferred government policy is not to stock on top of wild populations. If you stock on top of the wild populations, they compete with the wild fish.”

It wasn’t always that way. In fact, once upon a time it seemed like everything under the sun was stocked in Okanagan Lake.

According to environment ministry stocking records, Okanagan Lake was stocked with several species of fish, beginning in 1901—yes over 100 years ago—when 975,000 lake whitefish were dumped into the lake.

Over four million whitefish were again introduced in 1928.

In 1913, 10,000 cutthroat trout were stocked in Okanagan Lake. Even brook trout were tried, just once though, when 5,000 of them were introduced in 1941.

Rainbow trout were stocked in numerous years up until 1960. But since that time, there are no records of any stocking in Okanagan Lake.

The fish are considered native to Okanagan Lake; the fishery’s health dependent on a couple of key factors.

“There are a few strains of rainbows that if we stocked them they would start mixing with the native population,” said Askey.

“Some of these stocks have their own unique genetics and you want to try and maintain that. There is a finite amount of feed in the lake and that is the kokanee population.”

•••

And there’s the biggest factor in the health of the rainbow population: The kokanee.

Once an Okanagan Lake rainbow trout gets past the first few years of feeding on insects, it switches and starts eating kokanee. In the 1980s the booming kokanee population gave rainbows lots of food, allowing them to thrive.

But when kokanee stocks in the lake crashed, it sent a ripple effect onto the rainbow stocks. No kokanee, no trout.

“In the late ’80s and early ’90s, we did really well fishing the lake for rainbows,” said Hennig, then a member of the self-named car-topper club, a bunch of guys who would fish Okanagan Lake in small aluminum boats.

“Then in the late ’90s and early 2000s, we noticed the fish were long and skinny and that was because the kokanee had dropped off.

“In the last three years there has been a lot of change in the thickness of the rainbow. Now just about every one you catch has a kokanee in its stomach.”

It’s not surprising then that since the kokanee have made a pretty good comeback in Okanagan Lake in the past couple of years, the health of the rainbows has increased as well.

And so once again the search for trophy rainbows is on. But it’s a small portion of people actually fishing the lake. And there is drastically fewer people fishing the big lake than a couple of decades ago.

Askey has studied the numbers.

“I would say there are still people out there fishing but it’s definitely a fraction of what it used to be in the 1980s,” he said. “Angler numbers used to be a lot higher.”

According to the ministry’s own numbers, angler days on Okanagan Lake have drastically declined since the mid-1980s. Angler days—defined as four to five hours a day—on Okanagan Lake totaled 80,000 in 1985 and averaged around the same number throughout the decade.

In 2006-07, the same stat showed an average of 11,000 angler days, a near 90 per cent decline. And it was even worse when the kokanee crashed.

“When the kokanee fishery went down we stopped doing boat counts,” said Askey. “Now that we

re-opened the kokanee fishery, each year there has been an increase in angler effort.”

•••

So, with a healthy kokanee population and a trophy rainbow fishery sitting right outside our front door, why aren’t more people taking advantage, especially when the fishing is said to be best from October through December when the lake is relatively quiet?

“There is no exposure, no advertising no one doing a fishing show on the lake,” said Nick Pace, co-owner of Kelowna fishing shop Trout Water Fly and Tackle.

“If you come to the Okanagan to fish you’re likely coming to fish the many mountain lakes and the streams and rivers on the outskirts.

“You don’t fly into the Kelowna to fish the big lake. It’s not marketed that way. But if you were to market the big lake properly, it could become a destination.”

Rod Hennig is certainly hoping that it does. As a fish guide, about three-quarters of his business is people wanting the big lake experience, trolling in comfort and hoping to get a shot at a trophy rainbow.

He has started to partner with some area hotels offering fishing packages in tourism’s shoulder season.

“People come here for wine and skiing and summer fun, let’s add fishing to that,” he said. “If we could somehow get the fishery a little bit better by whatever means I think it could be a huge benefit to the area.”

Hennig suggests several ideas for increasing the performance of the fishery including relaxing some regulations on the lake, maybe selling an extra license to allow anglers to use more than one rod. And to try to find a way to increase rainbow trout numbers.

The introduction of new strains of rainbows, like the fast-growing triploids (a sterile strain) that are being introduced in mountain lakes, doesn’t appear imminent.

“If you put more fish in there you just take the space of the fish that are being reproduced,” said Askey. “The lake has a certain capacity to it. The hard thing with the big lakes is you don’t have as much power to manipulate them. To turn things around it’s more of a long term sustainable thing. All you can do is help the fish along, try to keep the habitat intact and keep the harvest sustainable.”

•••

We fished all day, trolling in the top 40 feet of the water column, using down riggers and plugs that imitated kokanee. It was slow.

But fishermen will tell you to put in your time. That’s how you catch fish.

And wham, there it was, dancing into the air with three jumps just after it hit.

It wasn’t the mythical 20 pounder. But it was a lunker nonetheless.

Five and a half pounds, it’s stomach bulging with a kokanee dinner. Great sport.

“What you have in the Okanagan that you don’t have in other regions is the large lake opportunity,” said Askey.

“That’s what sets it apart. There is a lot of opportunity out there. Ultimately Okanagan Lake has a real good opportunity to produce a satisfied angler.

“You have a chance at a 20 pounder and one of those is worth 20 small fish.”

kparnell "at" kelownacapnews.com

The Regional Board has received a detailed final report from the consulting team that has been studying recreational marine facilities on Okanagan, Kalamalka and Wood lakes within the Central Okanagan.

The study was developed through extensive public and stakeholder consultation and research. The final report makes a number of recommendations regarding present and future amenities for the boating and marine community in the Central Okanagan.

The Board has recommended that the final report be sent to member municipalities for their consideration and response in light of possible financial implications.

Report Links:

Executive Summary (6 pages)
Part A - Understanding the Area and Issues Report (44 pages, 1.1MB)
Part B - Analysis and Synthesis Report (46 pages)
Part C - Environmental Issues/Impacts (102 pages, 6.2 MB)
Part D - Recommendations and Conclusions (10 pages)
Maps (25 pages, 6 MB)
Appendices (8 pages)

http://www.regionaldistrict.com/whatsnew.aspx

I agree with G. Smith that it is time for more input on the loud boat issue. I also own a loud boat and have had numerous lakeshore residences and still own recreational lakeshore property. The only way to quiet most of these boats down is by installing mufflers. They are moderately effective and very costly. Most higher horsepower boats can't run much over 3,000 rpm using under-water exhaust as it is too restrictive.

However it is not only the so-called "cigarette" type boats that contribute to the noises on the lake. Most of the high performance boats are simply passing by and usually fairly quickly so their interruptions are brief. Ski/wakeboard boats and many pleasure boats run thru-hull exhausts or at least silent choice which gives them the choice at the flip of a switch. How do you regulate that once they are away from the dock?

There is also float planes that operate from the Grand Hotel and other areas that are much noisier than most boats. The thing a lot of lakeshore people find most annoying is the Sea-Doos as they are also very noisy and lots of them stay in relatively the same spot for extended periods. Powerful stereos on pleasure craft and house boats are also very annoying and sometimes go all night. This is all part of people having fun and enjoying time on a nice lake that none of us have the exclusive use of. Furthermore, the lakes are federal jurisdiction so any regulations concerning noise would have to cover all lakes and waterways and all vessels including commercial. Maybe while they are doing this they can find a way to regulate the air traffic as helicopters and loud airplanes are getting far too common.

As for districts, cities etc applying bylaws saying loud boats can not use boat launches on city property is just annoying and unlikely to change anything. By the way we pay taxes too.

People looking for year-round peace and quiet should perhaps seek more rural residences or on smaller fishing type lakes instead of one of B.C.'s greatest boating lakes.

Jim Hartford

Next time you’re stuck in a line-up at a local boat launch, or you’ve got your boat in the water and have no place to park your trailer, you might want to think twice before you blame out-of-towners for over-crowded launch facilities.

The Central Okanagan Regional District has commissioned a boating study and while the two biggest complaints boaters have are too few launches and no parking for boat trailers, for the most the part it’s locals that are clogging up the launches.

Consulting firm GDH Solutions conducted surveys at 27 boat launches in the Central Okanagan over the past few months, recording trailer license plates and discovering where those plates were issued.

Of all the trailers counted and recorded, 72 per cent of them were from within the Okanagan. Just 11 per cent of the trailers were from Alberta. Other parts of the province made up 15 per cent of the trailers and the remaining two per cent came from the rest of Canada and the United States.

“We are finding out that people want to get onto the lake with their boat but it’s very difficult,” said Doris Haas, of GDH Solutions.

Boaters have told the consultant that boat launches are very crowded, parking trailers is a huge issue and there aren’t enough fuelling stations available.

“They’re irritated with the lack of moorage space,” said Haas.

The study, to eventually provide recommendations for the future to the regional district, will look at problems and solutions on Wood Lake, the south end of Kalamalka Lake and Okanagan Lake from its start in the north to the south side of Peachland.

According to counts done by GDH Solutions, there are 1,500 boats on a peak summer day on area lakes, but Haas said that amounts to just two per cent of the more than 60,000 boats registered to owners in the Central Okanagan.

“Four in 10 households have a boat,” said Haas.

An inventory of marine recreational facilities on the three lakes identified 77 points of interest with 47 of the sites deemed as significant.

Haas said approximately 1,800 new boat slips are scheduled to be added over the next one to five years, with 1,400 of those dedicated for private use.

Ipsos Reid conducted a telephone survey of regional district residents and found that:

• The majority of motor boats and sail boats are over 15 feet in length.

• Six in 10 respondents said there are not enough marine recreational facilities.

• Boaters are dissatisfied with parking facilities, the availability of public mooring facilities, washroom facilities, public boat launches and fuelling facilities.

• More than three-quarters of respondents agree local governments should invest more in marine facilities.

• Residents’ two top priorities over the next five years are to expand parking facilities at boat launches and offer additional boat launch facilities.

“The recommendations are going to be done probably in early September,” said Haas.

A final meeting of the consulting group and a presentation to the public is scheduled for Sept. 18 in Kelowna, where the recommendations will be presented.

The public will have the opportunity to provide input on the recommendations at that time.

Final recommendations will go to the regional district some time after the Sept. 18 meeting.