Lake Management Planning Program
in the Tay watershed region
Press Release – January 25, 2007
Pike Lake Secures Support for their Lake Management Plan
The Pike Lake Property Owners Association has been selected as the second lake to receive assistance under the Lake Management Planning Program for the Tay watershed area. The Lake Management Planning (LMP) Program provides customized guidance and technical expertise to assist lake groups in this region in the development of lake management plans.
After a unanimous vote by property owners at their AGM in July, 2005, the Pike Lake Property Owners Association established a Steering Committee to guide the association’s work towards developing a lake plan. Since then, the Committee has grown in number and has been working to improve communication with property owners and users of the lake to build support for the lake plan. In 2005 and 2006, a land owner data base was assembled and a Lake Values Survey carried out, which provided residents with an opportunity to express views on the issues and challenges facing the lake. The Lake Values Survey will provide a valuable foundation on which the next stages of process will be based, including the production of a state of the lake report, scheduled for 2007. Property owners and users of Pike Lake can keep up to date on the lake planning process and other activities at the lake once the website www.pikelake.ca is launched in February.
The LMP Program aims to encourage lake associations in Tay Valley Township and the Tay River Watershed to undertake lake management plans, as important components of ensuring the long-term health of this region’s water resources. The program is guided by a Steering Committee of six local organisations – The Friends of the Tay Watershed, Otty Lake Association (on behalf of a core group of local lakes), Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, Tay Valley Township, The Community Stewardship Council of Lanark County, and Mississippi Valley Conservation. The program manager is based out of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority office in Manotick.
Lake management plans are action plans developed by the local lake community to protect the health and character of their lake. Such plans can recommend stewardship actions that address current or potential issues, such as water quality monitoring and land use regulation. They may also form a valuable basis of understanding between the lake community and municipal authorities
The funding for this LMP Program has been provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, TD Environmental Foundation, Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation, and the Community Stewardship Council of Lanark County. Through this assistance, the program provides workshops and materials to promote and guide lake management planning. It is anticipated that management plans for three lakes will be completed over the next three years, and that a number of other lakes will initiate work on their programs.
The Otty Lake Association (OLA), which was the first lake to be included in this LMP Program in November, 2005, has recently completed a comprehensive report on the state of their lake and lake watershed area, for review by their residents.
For more information on this program, contact Sheanna Tinlin at (613) 692-3571 ext. 1173 or Sheanna.tinlin@rideauvalley.on.ca or visit http://www.rideauvalley.on.ca/programs/LMP_Program/index.html.
Press release issued by the Steering Committee of the Lake Management Planning Program.
Program Funders:
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Rideau Lakes Environmantal Foundation |
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