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October 24, 2013 Vol. 28 • No. 86 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
John McDermott is glad he inherited his father’s tenor. So are his fans, who can hear him soon at the Sid. page B1
Local chiropractor and triathlete Dr. Clay Ward is set to represent the Comox Valley in Maui on Oct. 27. page B10
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Should we manage our watershed better? Scott Stanfield Record Staff
This is the first in a three-part series about sustainable use in the Comox Lake Watershed. A conservation group has compiled a proposal to protect water quality and enable public access while supporting sustainable use in the Comox Lake watershed. The Comox Valley Conservation Strategy Community Partnership suggests land use in the watershed is putting drinking water at risk to the point where the regional district might have to spend $32 million on a treatment plant. The Proposal for a Comox Lake Watershed Sustainable Use Recreation Area includes recommendations for senior levels of government intended to protect drinking water and the watershed’s ecology. For instance, it suggests the Province establish a public authority that would include recreation groups and TimberWest, the majority owner of the watershed. The idea is to develop a plan for the 44,000 hectares between the Valley and Strathcona Provincial Park, one-third of which is protected. Because it’s on private land, the partnership says the watershed is not being managed. “We’re trying to put out a concept,” project manager David Stapley said. “Why don’t we own it, or at least control it, so that it will function well forever? “I can’t think of any place where the community ended up taking control of their watershed
that they regretted that decision.” The group suggests there is no single agency or public authority that manages the health of the watershed, which is at risk from logging, land development, recreation and other threats. Instead, it says various stakeholders assert their own interests. “We’re looking for some leadership,” Comox Valley Land Trust executive director Jack Minard said while recently addressing the board of the CVRD, which he considers the lead agency. “We’re talking about a place of beauty for all time.” Stapley and Minard have also presented the proposal to Valley councils and the land trust. The CVRD board voted to use the document as a resource and to include the CVCSCP as a stakeholder as the district progresses through a watershed protection planning process. Also endorsing the document is the K’ómoks First Nation, which has an interest in using water from Comox Lake to meet domestic needs. The band will require access to lakewater to service its fee simple and treaty settlement lands. “We see our role as stewards of the Puntledge River system from the K’ómoks Estuary to the headwaters of Comox Lake,” KFN chief Rob Everson states in a letter to Stapley. “Protection of the health of this water source is vital to the long-term interests of the KFN.” Vancouver Island Health Authority medical health officer Charmaine Enns feels the document contains some sound ideas on watershed protection, but considers parts of the proposal “curious and problematic.” She questions why work is needed around processes already underway, and questions the MEDICAL HEALTH OFFICER Charmaine Enns has strong thoughts about our public water supply. PHOTO BY SCOTT STANFIELD ... see WATER ■ A3
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