The Arrow Lakes Reservoir will be part of a five-year recreational study. Conducted by consulting company E. Lees & Associates Consulting through BC Hydro, the study will be used “to determine whether there is a link between Arrow Lakes Reservoir levels and recreational demand, and if so, to better understand how the changes in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir levels affect recreational use of the reservoir,” says BC Hydro stakeholder engagement advisor Jennifer Walker-Larsen.

The area which will be studied ranges from the Revelstoke Generating Station north of Revelstoke all the way to the Hugh Keenleyside Dam at Castlegar, says Walker-Larsen.

As part of the study, the Village of Nakusp council passed a motion to allow E. Lees & Associates to install an underground “magnetically activated traffic counter” at the Nakusp boat launch, and the firm still is also looking at installing the counters at Blanket Creek, Shelter Bay, McDonald Creek, Fauquier, Burton, Edgewod, Syringa Creek, Revelstoke Centennial Park and the Eagle Bay MTSA Recreation Site.

Erik Lees of E. Lees & Associates stated in a letter to council that aside from the counters, they will also be conducting surveys in the region.

“In addition to face-to-face surveys of the Arrow Lakes Reservoir recreationists, we need to obtain accurate daily and weekly counts of recreation parties using the reservoir and adjacent on-shore lands and correlate recreational use of the reservoir with changing reservoir levels,” says Lees. “To accomplish this we intend to obtain accurate estimates of the recreation use at several of the boat launch locations on the reservoir.”

The surveys aren’t expected to begin until Labour Day weekend, says Walker-Larsen. They will be conducted them periodically until the end of 2013, she adds.

“Under the Columbia River Water Use Plan, BC Hydro is implementing a number of studies to better understand the effects of our operation of Arrow Lakes Reservoir on non-power interests including wildlife, fish, vegetation and recreation,” she says. “The information from all the studies will be used to make decisions during future water use planning processes.”