| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society (FOKLSS), with guidance from its Lake Advisory Council (LAC), launched the Future of Kootenay Lake Community Values Survey to support planning and management for Kootenay Lake. While other planning processes for individual communities have stated the importance of the lake for their well-being, no comprehensive vision for the future of the lake exists. The lake is an important asset and priority for all the surrounding communities and as such is a unifying interest across a diverse group of people. Over the past few decades, there have been increases in population and residential land use around the lake. Combined with other existing factors such as dam impacts, this has led to increased pressures on the environment (like aquatic habitat) and social aspects of the lake (like recreation and access), with no coordinated vision. Given the lake’s importance and these increased pressures, it is critical that a comprehensive vision for the lake’s future be developed to manage for ecological, social, cultural, and economic values across jurisdictions. The Community Values Survey is an important step towards building a common vision which can help support future planning and management for Kootenay Lake. FOKLSS conducted the Future of Kootenay Lake Community Values Survey, from June 15 to July 15 2016, to better understand community values associated with Kootenay Lake. The survey gathered community input on the current and future state of Kootenay Lake and covered topics on recreation, water quality, atmosphere, aquatic habitat, enforcement, development, management, planning, and others. The survey findings are available to support future planning and management of Kootenay Lake, programming for FOKLSS, community initiatives, and education and outreach activities. Survey results indicate that top values and concerns are generally consistent among respondents, regardless of where their primary residence is located. For example, survey findings show that the majority of respondents value the natural environment (92%), relaxed atmosphere (78%), and recreational activities on Kootenay Lake (70%). High water quality is ranked by 97% of respondents as either important or very important. Mountain viewscapes (94%) and recreational activities (82%) are similarly ranked highly by a large majority of respondents. There were differences, however, in community values depending on where they were from or how they use the lake. For example, roughly a quarter to half (28-57%) of respondents feel that there are about the right number of amenities available on the lake, but this varies by respondents’ primary residence. Additionally, lakefront property owners had significantly different opinion distributions than other user groups on the use of Crown land and the practice of acquiring accretions to lakefront property. A substantial number of questions had a high “Don’t know” response rate. Outreach and education may be needed on many of these issues because of the high numbers that say that they didn’t know enough to have an opinion or respond to the question. The highest “Don’t know” response rates were typically in regards to regulation. Over 80% of respondents either agree that existing regulations and by-laws are difficult for the public to understand or say that they don't know. If you have questions or comments, please email FOKLSS at [email protected] or see their website at www.friendsofkootenaylake.ca. |
