Kaslo Seniors Lake Monitoring Workshop

INVITE ONLY

On August 5th, in partnership with Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society (FoKLSS) and North Kootenay Lake Community Services Society (NKLCSS), Living Lakes Canada’s Lake Blitz Coordinator will be hosting an educational volunteer appreciation event in Kaslo, B.C. This 2-hour event will provide an opportunity for constituents (seniors and youth) of NKLCSS and their families to learn more about their local stewardship group (FoKLSS) and become familiar with more in-depth water monitoring techniques.

Currently, these volunteers are taking part in the National Lake Blitz program and are gathering temperature and photo observation data on Kootenay Lake, Fish Lake, Mirror Lake, and Bear Lake.

In April 2022, these volunteers attended an in-person training hosted by Living Lakes Canada’s Lake Blitz Program Coordinator. This training covered the Lake Blitz monitoring protocol and our coordinator facilitated a practice session at a public dock in Kaslo. After the training, 6 senior volunteers signed up and have been monitoring their lakes over the sampling season from May – September 2022.

This event will feature a presentation from FoKLSS’s Environmental Outreach Coordinator, Joelle Burnie. Joelle will share the history of FoKLSS, the work they do on Kootenay Lake, and how volunteers can get involved in their many stewardship programs. Following this presentation and discussion, participants will take part in three activities that include, willow stake gathering, stream bug identification, and water monitoring using kits from Water Rangers. These activities are directly related to FoKLSS’s and Living Lakes Canada’s watershed restoration initiatives and water monitoring work. The willow stake gathering will directly support FoKLSS’s wetland restoration project taking place on Kootenay Lake in Harrop, B.C. Following the activities, the Lake Blitz Coordinator will guide the participants into a question and discussion period around the activities completed and the current monitoring that the volunteers are doing.

The event will finish off with a complimentary lunch provided by Bluebelle Bistro and Living Lakes Canada.

For more information about this event please contact Living Lakes Canada’s Lake Blitz Program Coordinator, Camille LeBlanc: lakeblitz@livinglakescanada.ca