Wednesday May 27, 2015 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST Included
Algae blooms in lakes
Shuswap, Mara: Citizens point to need for better water management. By Lachlan Labere OBSeRVeR STAFF
Another algae bloom in the Shuswap has residents concerned for the health and protection of the region’s lakes. Reports of a yellow-brown substance floating just below the surface of Mara lake began to pop up late Thursday. On Friday, May 22 the bloom was spotted from Two Mile, and later in Shuswap lake. Salmon Arm biologist Jeremy Ayotte said he and five others were on a canoe excursion Friday, paddling along the east side of Shuswap lake toward Anstey Arm, when they encountered a “yellow-orange mat of algae hovering about a metre below the surface.” “It was patchy in places, sometimes wispy and thin,” Ayotte explained in an email. “In other places it appeared to be a solid mass. There was no smell, but it also didn’t appear to break the surface of the lake.” Ayotte said the algae didn’t extend north of the narrows, noting “the nutrient-laden water from Salmon and Shuswap rivers flows west through the narrows, “and the bloom likely wouldn’t spread into the cooler, cleaner waters of the Anstey Arm.” The bloom was reported Friday to the Ministry of environment, which did not provide its findings before press time. Ayotte, however, said last week’s weather and lake conditions – unusually warm temperatures and calm waters – were conducive to algae blooms, as seen in Shuswap lake in 2008, and in Shuswap and Mara lakes in 2010. “It’s the canary in the mine shaft thing that we need to watch for,” Ayotte told the Observer. “It’s that algae that’s going to tell us when the nutrient regime is out of balance, or out of whack in the lake.” See Advocates on page A2
evAn BuhLer/OBSeRVeR
It’s a scream
Willow Jamieson and her brother Aidan race along a temporary track during the Twilight Family Fun Ride festivities in front of the Shuswap Children’s Association on Friday, May 22. Businesses around downtown held interactive bike-related activities for families, including a barbecue at Ross Street Plaza.
Expert says boat not at top speed By Tim Petruk KAMlOOPS THIS WeeK
The speedboat that collided with a houseboat on Shuswap lake in 2010, leaving one man dead, could have been travelling as slowly as 32 km/h, a judge has been told. leon Reinbrecht’s trial in B.c. Supreme court in Kamloops resumed yesterday after a month-long break. Reinbrecht is charged with one count each of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm stemming from a fatal collision on Magna Bay on July 3, 2010. Ken Brown was killed when his houseboat was struck nearly head-on by Reinbrecht’s speedboat. Reinbrecht does not deny operating the speedboat, but his lawyers have argued the
This week Dragon Tao members take to the lake for an early morning experience. See A15. Tomorrowland, which features Shuswap landscapes, is now playing. See A21 for more.
houseboat was not properly lit in vehicle collisions testifying prior to the nighttime crash. for the defence, believes the The trial, which began in speedboat was at the lower early February, has heard end of its planing speed, likely from witnesses who claim to 32 km/h, when the collision have seen a speedboat driving took place. leggatt admitted erratically, zig-zagging and it is difficult to determine the doing high-speed doughnuts speed of either boat. before the collision. “It’s not a case where you One witness claimed to Leon Reinbrecht can calculate the speed, with have heard the speedboat at precision, of either vessel,” he Accused of full throttle seconds before said. negligence the crash. Taking the stand “You can make assumpyesterday, however, mechanitions.” cal engineer Timothy leggatt said there leggatt said he based his opinion largeis nothing to indicate the speedboat was ly on the fact the 4,000-pound speedboat’s travelling anywhere near its top speed of propeller caused minimal damage to the 72 km/h when it hit the houseboat. aluminum structure of the houseboat. Based on the damage caused to the inThe trial is expected to conclude this side of the houseboat, leggatt, an expert week.
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Time Out....................A10 Sports................A15-A18 Arts & Events ... A19-A22 Vol. 108, No. 21, 44 pages