Logging in the watershed

[bob vernon]

When the Liberals were in power in Victoria, they had a plan to sell off the land around the lakes in the Vernon watershed up on the Aberdeen plateau. The resulting cabins and septic fields would have surrounded our water supply up there. Not a good idea. The plan was rejected.

And now we are presented with a proposal by Tolko to log that area. There must be a lot of good timber up there around those lakes. Tolko wants to put in logging roads and get the logs out. Once roads go in, even if they are decommissioned after logging, the offroaders find a way to get onto the roads and keep them open.

Vernon is going to grow a lot more in the future, as is the whole Okanagan, and we need that water supply to be maintained as safely as possible. Despite all the promises, and the Tolko-friendly Castanet headline stating that it will be safe, this plan would open the path to a big problem in the future. With our climate becoming drier, any threat to that water should be
rejected. Log elsewhere, not in our water supply.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/33 ... o-the-area

[TylerM4]

Isn't logging within watersheds normal activity?

Lots of reservoir lakes (and even OK lake) are surrounded by human activity, yet the water quality is testing well and water quality notices are almost never issued due to human activities. You mention septic fields - such fields need to be engineered and approved by IHA. Again - I've not seen evidence of water quality impact due to this reason. Even in the valley bottom lakes. Meanwhile cattle poop straight into water/streams.

I dunno, I get your point but I also think we need to take a more balanced approach. "Keep everyone out for any reason" seems over the top to me.

[MCB]

Septic fields?