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Updated: July 08, 2009 5:11 PM
There’s some good news on the waterfront this week. But it could be better, much better.
A $150,000 cash infusion will help move the Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process (SLIPP) along the road to water protection in the Shuswap.
The funding from the Fraser Salmon Watersheds Program will be used to finalize the SLIPP report begun two years ago and widely supported by area environmentalists, First Nations, politicians and many other residents.
And why not? With over-populated and polluted lakes, the region will quickly lose the economic benefits tourists bring.
Without protection, the pristine beauty of this place we call home could be lost forever.
Some items on the current to-do list include the creation of an application review process that will make clear requirements that must be met to anyone developing on Shuswap and Mara lakes.
That should help keep municipal government, agencies and developers on the same page. A site-sensitive foreshore map should reinforce for everyone involved areas that need special protection.
Also critical for those who deal with development applications, the map will provide a detailed picture of the cumulative effects of development on the two lakes.
While representatives from many government agencies – federal, provincial and municipal – have been meeting regularly to direct the process as best they can with the funding received, the province has remained stubbornly silent.
After offering enthusiastic support for Shuswap Lake protection at a North Shuswap rally last spring, rarely a peep has since emanated from Environment Minister Barry Penner’s office.
Yes, it is important to protect grizzly bear habitat. But so is water protection for human beings who get much of their drinking water from groundwater sources and rely on the lakes for their livelihoods.
Worse yet, previously permitted to discuss projects in which they were involved, MOE officials in the Kamloops office have seemingly been muzzled for far too long.
Many people from many backgrounds are hard at work to protect the Shuswap watershed while it’s still possible to do so.
The provincial government needs to step up to the plate with their intentions now. Not after it’s too late.
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