Dear Editor:
No one disputes that concern over water quality is a huge issue in Canada and throughout the world. For that reason there are many existing regulations that deal with domestic wastewater, storm water, surface water and groundwater protection.
There are also existing regulations that deal with navigation and boating safety. These controls were in place before the Lake Windermere Project began. What is of concern is that Wildsight replicates many of these existing controls and then goes beyond them in a broad sweeping plan with the following glaring deficiencies:
1) No consideration of highest and best use principles.
2) No consideration of economic cost/benefit.
3) No technical justification for many of the proposed actions.
An example taken directly from the plan: A new marina for public use in Invermere is supported as relocation of the marina at the north end of the lake. One concept for this is a marina at the foot of 3rd Avenue, with a boat launch, public dock, fuel dock, temporary moorage for those visiting Invermere, parking at Rotary field, and possible boat/vehicle concierge service.
The lake is actually a widening of a river, a river that over the course of history has seen many changes both natural and manmade. Much of the entire shoreline and the north end of the lake is actually a produced environment. If the plan actually utilized a highest and best use and technical, social and economic impact evaluation the marina facility would stay in the north.
That is the pitfall when you fund an environmental group, whose sole mission is environmental advocacy, to prepare planning documents that really should include social, economic and environmental consideration.
The local government does not have the technical or manpower capacity to direct the gathering of data and the lake program. Thats why they pay someone else to do it. I appreciate the local government effort to participate in the process and the efforts of the many volunteers, especially the Ambassadors to participate in the program. However, having been on numerous committees, I fully understand that the only one person or group who has the actual ability to direct a project and to produce, read and digest the myriad of documents, is the person or organization paid to administer it. And in this case that is Wildsight.
Nick Berzins, Invermere
