The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change requested for the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society (OLWQS) to extend their testing period into October (they usually stop in September) and start earlier in May.
This year, Oct. 13 will be the last day of testing for OLWQS when the crew will go out and test the different parts of the lake.
The benefit of extending the time range of testing is that it allows the ministry to look at a broader picture of what is happening in the lake, especially with different temperatures, said Birgit Arnstein, president of OLWQS.
“As they’re looking at climate change, [they are asking] what is this doing to the salmon and other life forms in the lake and so on. So that information is valuable to them,” she added.
The crew goes out every other week to monitor and test the lake in five different areas to check water turbidity (clarity), dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, and specific conductivity.
At the same time, the hope of extending their testing period comes with the need to have a core team of volunteers on their crew.
Arnstein stated that on top of membership in the society taking a downturn, they are also losing their treasurer, a boat volunteer, and a captain.
The OLWQS currently has 12 boat volunteers. They also have paid members who support the group by buying memberships but are unable to volunteer themselves.
Arnstein said that in order to do many projects aside from their regular testing, they require a team of volunteers. This includes initiatives like attaching ‘Protect Our Lake’ decals on garbage bins across town which the society did over the weekend.
She said the society will be focusing on how they can enhance their stewardship role within the community to engage people as well as educate them on how to protect the lake.
“Unfortunately, some of the reasons we have not had all the volunteers that we need, part of the reason, is that we haven’t done any public education events like we did in the past. With COVID it’s difficult to pull that sort of thing together. But we are going to explore what other sorts of stewardship activities we can engage in to work to protect the lake,” said Arnstein.
