KAWARTHA LAKES- Residents who own waterfront property, as well as members of the agriculture and business got the opportunity to have their say on protecting the future of the waterways at the Cambray Community Centre on Saturday during a half-day Lake Management Planning Stewardship Summit.
“The purpose of the summit was to hear directly from all stakeholders across the Kawartha watershed about their thoughts and ideas for projects that would directly benefit our lakes, streams, rivers and communities,” explained Kawartha Conservation Stewardship Coordinator Holly Shipclark.
Officials say the information, ideas and priorities brought forward on Saturday, along with results from an ongoing Lake Management Planning survey on the Kawartha Conservation website, will help formulate a strategy for addressing priorities over the next five years.
“Our specialized staff will be working with the community and municipal staff to review the information and determine how the project ideas might be implemented in both the short and long term,” explained Mark Majchrowski, CAO of Kawartha Conservation. “That information will help lake planning partners develop an implementation strategy with key measurements in place.”
Lake management plans have been started or completed for Balsam and Cameron Lakes, Canal and Mitchell Lakes, Four Mile Lake, Head Lake, Lake Scugog, Pigeon Lake, Shadow Lake and Sturgeon Lake so far.
“We have already started to implement a number of action items from the specific lake management plans. With this Summit, we wanted to talk to all watershed residents, not just waterfront residents, on their priorities and how they believe we can best help protect the health and quality of our lakes, our environment and our communities,” said Dave Pridham, Manager of Technical and Stewardship Services.
Doug Erlandson, Chair of the Community Advisory Panel says community input on the five year plan is crucial . “The summit is an important component of reaching out to community members and soliciting their input and ideas as part of a broader discussion.”
The Lake Management Planning Stewardship Survey will remain open until August 15 for residents to complete if they have not had a chance to. The survey can be accessed by going to www.KawarthaConservation.com.
A summary of the feedback as well as list of project ideas and topics will be posted to the Kawartha Conservation website in the coming days.
