Social Engagment Activity
To identify and prioritize the goals and objectives of the community, we met with the Jackfish lake stewardship and the Jackfish authority. The stewardship is a non-governmental organization (NGO) group consisting primarily of cottage owners concerned with the goal of improving water quality for recreational use. The group volunteered in the past with citizen science, a program that monitors water quality parameters such as nutrients, water depth, algal biomass, salinity, and PH for recreational waters in Saskatchewan. The critical goal highlighted by the stewardship group during the meeting on May 21 was nutrient monitoring around the lake including; creeks, golf course, and the cottage houses. Nutrient sampling at the tributaries was identified of high priority due to the intensive agricultural activity at that location. The group expects to narrow down the primary source of nutrient into the lake and implement a practical environmental friendly solution to the problem. Furthermore, this will provide the opportunity of educating the community on maintaining a healthy lake, erosion prevention, and possibility of wake-board restrictions. The stewardship expressed their interest in having a visual representation of results as opposed to traditional reports that end up in an office shelf.
The second engagement activity took place on June 25 in RM of Meota, Saskatchewan to Jackfish lake authority. In contrast to the stewardship group, this group is diverse with sufficient representatives from different stakeholders including, cottage owners, first nation representatives, farmers, Water Security Agency (WSA), private business and governmental representatives from most of surrounding communities. NSRBC presented solutions to water quality challenges in the water body. Several long- and short-term nutrient monitoring options of improving water quality in Jackfish lake were highlighted to the group. The Jackfish authority group expressed their interest in working with NSRBC to implement cost-effective long-term nutrient monitoring. Some of the questions that came up includes;
- The associated cost of each nutrient monitoring option
- Advancement in the sampling testing process over the decade and how current data might differ from the historical data
- Determining the location, time, and frequency of water sampling
Note: Meeting minutes can be found in appendix section of this report