CLOCK IS TICKING FOR SKELETON LAKE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN

Tina Biro, Advocate Staff

Progress is being made in the establishment of a watershed management plan for Skeleton Lake, however, for many that progress couldn't happen fast enough as lake levels continue to drop.

A public meeting for the review of the draft Terms of Reference for the Skeleton Lake Watershed Management Plan was held by the Skeleton Lake Stewardship Association on Aug. 26 at the Boyle Community Centre.

Brian Curial, spokesperson for SLSA, estimates that 30-40 people came out to the meeting, and while there were no real concerns with the process of developing a watershed management plan for the lake, there were real concerns over the declining water level and an urgency expressed by the public to move the process along as quickly as possible.

"Through the town hall meetings that we've done ... we pretty much know what the concerns were out there and there wasn't anything that surprised us that came out of this meeting," said Curial.

"(The public) didn't really have any issues or concerns about the process," he added. "The public were talking about the lake level. "

"(The Skeleton Lake narrows) are virtually dry." Curial commented that the SLSA hopes to have approval on the terms of reference within the month, however, they are not really sure exactly how long the approval will take.

Nonetheless, the SLSA will not wait for that approval before they move ahead with the next step in the process - the development of the State of the Watershed report for Skeleton Lake.

"We are going to (move ahead with the State of the Watershed report) simply because time is of the essence," said Curial.

The State of the Watershed report is essentially a summary of the data that is available on the Skeleton Lake watershed.

The State of the Watershed report will be completed in December and the public consultation for the document is expected to take place in January, 2007.

Once the State of the Watershed report is approved by Alberta Environment, the final step in the process is the development of the Skeleton Lake Watershed Management Plan.

The Skeleton Lake Watershed Management Plan will focus on water quantity and lake sustainability, shoreline development, water quality, protection of aquatic resources, education and awareness, and compilation of information.

The draft watershed management plan is expected to be complete in February. 2007, with public consultation regarding the draft plan occurring the same month.

The final version of the Skeleton Lake Watershed Management Plan is expected to be submitted to Alberta Environment for approval in March 2007.

Public consultation will take place after the draft forms of each document are completed and the feedback received after each public consultation will be incorporated into the documents prior to the drafts going into Alberta Environment for approval.

"They're the ones that are in charge. We are just doing the legwork for them," said Curial.

Tina Biro, Advocate Staff