The Capital Regional District park that encompasses the lakes is the most heavily used in the region, with an estimated 1.48 million visits and 14,000 angler-days per year. Even if you don鈥檛 visit it yourself, a quick drive by on the Pat Bay Highway shows rowers, anglers, swimmers, paddlers, sailors, water-skiers, walkers and runners taking advantage of everything the park has to offer.
Not as easily visible is the degradation of water quality. Weeds grow, algae blooms, fish habitat declines and geese do what geese do in the water.
鈥淭he water-quality deterioration is significant in, say, the last 20 years,鈥� said Susan Brice, chairwoman of the CRD parks committee. 鈥淪o probably it is a good thing for us to get a plan of action so that we know exactly where we are with it.鈥�
Fixing the problem will take some co-ordination because of the number of agencies that have a say over some part of the park. That鈥檚 why CRD staff recommend hiring a half-time co-ordinator for four years to make sure everyone is working together.
The lake bottom, sediments and water column belong to the province. When you are messing about in boats, you are under the jurisdiction of Transport sa国际传媒. When you are running or walking or riding on the trails, the CRD is looking after the park lands. When you are swimming, Island Health makes sure the water is safe. And all the water that drains into and out of the lake flows mainly through the District of Saanich.
The co-ordinator鈥檚 job would include getting all those groups together to produce a watershed-management plan.
It will come with a cost. The co-ordinator鈥檚 pay and operating funds are estimated at $122,000 a year. Plans are already in place to spend $1.55 million on upgrading and replacing infrastructure over the next four years.
One expense on the staff鈥檚 wish list is $200,000 for a new weed harvester, which looks something like a floating combine, to replace the one that was retired in 2013. It helped maintain water quality by keeping in check the rapidly growing weeds.
The weeds and algae are signs of one of the major stress factors: excess nutrients that have been lurking in sediments for years and those that drain into the lake from surrounding land. Phosphorus, for instance, flows from residential and agricultural land, producing the blue-green scum of cyanobacteria, which can cause serious illness and death in humans and animals. Then when the bacteria die off, it depletes the water of oxygen, which harms the fish.
The threats to the lakes are complicated and interconnected. Overcoming them will not be easy, but volunteers, the CRD and others have been working on solutions.
A co-ordinator is a good next step in keeping the lakes healthy.
