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Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy

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Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy Quamichan Watershed Stewardship Society March 2011 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 The Quamichan Watershed 1 1.2 Watershed Governance 1 1.3 The Quamichan Watershed Management Plan 1 2.0 An Access Strategy for the Quamichan Watershed 3 2.1 Access Strategy Objectives 3 2.2 Approach 3 2.3 Lake Access Sites 4 3.0 Results 10 3.1 Survey Results 10 3.2 Community Meeting Results 12 3.3 SWOT Analysis 12 4.0 Discussion 17 5.0 Recommendations 19 5.1 Potential Timelines 20 6.0 References 21 Appendices 22 Appendix A - Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy Survey 23 Appendix B - Public Access Strategy Survey Results 24 Appendix C - Community Meeting Group Exercise Results 25 Appendix D - Community Meeting Poster 26 Appendix E - North Cowichan Highway Construction Permit Application 27 List of Figures Figure 1. Quamichan Lake Access Points 5 Figure 2. Art Mann Park Playground 5 Figure 2. Moose Road Access 6 Figure 3. Tarn Place Walkway 6 Figure 4. Martin Road 6 Figure 5. Henderson Road Trail 7 Figure 6. Catalyst Paper Air Quality Monitoring Station 7 Figure 7. Trumpeter Point Wetland Park 8 Figure 8. Fishing Dock at Sterling Ridge Park 8 Figure 9. Sterling Fire Access 9 Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy ii 1.0 Introduction The Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy was created as part of the Implementing the Quamichan Watershed Management Plan Project, carried out in 2010-2011 and undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Department of the Environment. 1.1 Quamichan Watershed The Quamichan watershed lies in the Municipality of North Cowichan, 3 km northeast of the City of Duncan on Vancouver Island. It is surrounded by Somenos Marsh and Mount Prevost beyond to the west, Mount Richards and Maple Mountain to the north and Mount Tzouhalem to the east. The major land uses in the watershed are rural use (42%), agricultural (18%), and residential (19%). The most densely developed areas are concentrated to the southern and eastern portions of the watershed. The lake bottom is owned by Timberwest. Quamichan Lake is a relatively small, shallow, mesotrophic-eutrophic (nutrient rich) lake oriented northeast-southwest with a surface area of approximately 3.1 km2. It has a drainage basin of approximately 17.3 km2 which contains approximately 15 surface inlet streams. McIntyre Creek and Elkington Creek are the largest of the inlet streams; both drain into the north-eastern corner of the lake. One major outlet stream, Quamichan Creek, is located at the south-western end if the lake. Quamichan Creek discharges into the Cowichan River 1.6 km south of the lake. 1.2 Watershed Governance Three levels of government hold jurisdiction over the Quamichan Watershed. At the local level the District of the Municipality of North Cowichan is responsible for community and land use planning, storm water management, parks and infrastructure development and maintenance, and Riparian Area Regulation bylaws and enforcement. The Cowichan Valley Regional District also holds local authority in the areas of regional parks and land use planning and directs the Cowichan Basin Water Management Plan. The provincial Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations regulate non- migrating fish, habitat, wildlife, water, waste discharge, and Riparian Area Regulation. Federally, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for Fisheries Act administration, research and studies regarding water and fisheries issues. 1.3 Quamichan Watershed Management Plan The Quamichan Watershed Stewardship Society (Quamichan Stewards) was formed in 2006 to address the continuously declining health of Quamichan Lake. The society identified the need for a management plan in order to address the issues contributing to the lake’s declining health. Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy 1 A Working Group of professionals and local area representatives from all levels of government was formed, and after a process of planning sessions and community input opportunities, the Quamichan Watershed Management Plan (2009) was created. The management plan outlines the following five goals to improve the lake and the surrounding areas. 1. Inspire the people of the Cowichan Valley to truly value the Quamichan watershed. 2. Improve the water quality of Quamichan Lake and the watershed. 3. Ensure that the water levels of Quamichan Lake support multiple uses within the watershed. 4. Champion ecologically sustainable land use practices within the watershed. 5. Improve habitat in the watershed to support a sustainable fishery and overall biodiversity. Within each goal there are specific objectives designed to act as a framework for implementing the plan and achieving each goal with the best possible outcomes. The Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy is being developed as part of Goal 1, Objective 1a: Increase the visibility of the Quamichan watershed through promoting recreation and educational activities. Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy 2 2.0 An Access Strategy for Quamichan Watershed This access strategy is being carried out as part of the implementation of the Quamichan Watershed Management Plan. The Quamichan Stewards hope that improving accessibility will allow people to use the lake for many purposes, including recreation. This, in turn, will increase their perception of the ecological value of the watershed. If more residents place a high value on the Quamichan watershed they will in turn want to help mitigate the negative impacts that are affecting the lake’s health. 2.1 Access Strategy Objectives The objectives of the Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy are to: 1. Identify and communicate to the community where to access the lake. 2. Describe how the community has used the lake in the past, how it uses it currently and how it plans to in the future. 3. Identify features or methods of access to meet the specific needs of users (e.g. wildlife viewing blinds, wharves and ramps for boaters, riparian protected areas, environmentally sustainable walkways). 4. Identify any challenges or impacts of an access point and methods to ensure that these have been addressed. 2.2 Approach This access strategy was created by carrying out the following steps: identify stakeholders, distribute community survey, liaise with stakeholder groups, hold a community meeting, report results and provide recommendations. Identify access sites . The Quamichan Stewards worked with the District of North Cowichan staff to identify and confirm public lake access sites around Quamichan Lake. Access site locations were field checked to confirm accessibility, amenities and user friendliness. Identify stakeholders . An extensive stakeholder database was created with the aim of identifying all watershed and community user groups and their contact information. Access strategy survey . The Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy Community Input Survey was created and distributed to the Quamichan Stewards contact database, community group newsletters, as well as the identified stakeholder contact list. The survey was made available on Survey Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy 3 Monkey through links in emails and the Quamichan Stewards website. A printable copy was also available for those who wanted to fill it out by hand and mail it in or drop it off. 93 surveys were completed, 69 through Survey Monkey and 24 submitted by hand. See Appendix A. Liaise with stakeholder groups . Identified stakeholder groups were contacted and asked to distribute the community input survey to their members as well as invite them to the community meeting. Community meeting . A community meeting was held in order to inform residents of the access strategy, provide an opportunity for community members to voice their ideas/opinions, and allow the Quamichan Stewards to collect community surveys as well as gather input not covered in the survey. Forty individuals attended the community meeting. Report results . Results of the survey and community meeting can be found in section 3.0 and Appendices B and C. Provide recommendations . This report provides recommendations for improving current public access points and recreational potential of the Quamichan watershed. See section 5.0 Recommendations. 2.3 Lake Access Sites There are eight public access points on Quamichan Lake and a ninth site at Westlock Road that may provide future access to residents living in the immediate vicinity (see Figure 1). These sites, many of which are unconstructed road ends, have been dedicated through the subdivision process to provide access to navigable water and are meant to provide foot access to the lake, with the exception of Art Mann Park which also provides vehicle access (John Mackay, personal communication, December 8, 2010). Of the nine points, only three are currently developed enough to actually provide access to the water (Art Mann Park, Moose Road and Sterling Ridge Park). The other sites may have provided water access at some point but due to a lack of use/maintenance they are no longer passable. Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy 4 Figure 1. Quamichan Lake Access Points 2.3.1 Art Mann Park Art Mann Park is located at the end of Indian Road on the south end of Quamichan Lake near the outlet of Quamichan Creek. It is the most well known access point for Quamichan Lake and hosts a variety of amenities including: a boat launch, playground, washrooms, picnic tables, benches and a small beach area. A large parking area leads up to a retaining wall at the lake’s edge. Figure 2. Art Mann Park Playground Quamichan Watershed Access Strategy 5 2.3.2 Moose Road Moose Road is off of Lakes Road on the eastern side of Quamichan Lake. At the end of Moose Road a gate blocks vehicle access to the lake, but it can be opened by the district of North Cowichan if 24 hours notice is given. There is room to park 1-2 cars near the gate. From the gate the access is paved and stretches about 230 metres down to the lake’s edge.
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