Awarded to Ktunaxa Nation Council to create a new and improved Shoreline Guidance Document for Kootenay Lake.

PROPONENT: Ktunaxa Nation Council and Kootenay Lake Partnership

DESCRIPTION: The Cultural Values Study (CVS) and Integration into Kootenay Lake Shoreline Guidance Document (SGD) is important for conservation as it provides a unique opportunity to integrate Indigenous cultural values and ecological information to guide the development around the 400km of shoreline of Kootenay Lake. In the 10 years since the original SGD was created in 2012 there has been an approximate loss of 4.5km of natural shoreline from development. This project aims to update and improve the SGD, produce a set of performance measures to annually track the effectiveness of the SGD, and conduct outreach and training to key stakeholders to ensure the information developed through the SGD is leveraged to its fullest to minimize future losses of Indigenous values and fish and wildlife habitat.

This project will collect and combine the Ktunaxa CVS, an Archeological Overview Assessment, Foreshore Inventory Mapping and recommendations by the Kootenay Lake Partnership to create a new and improved SGD. The SGD will help aid long term planning for all levels of government to protect Indigenous cultural values as well as high value fish and wildlife habitats. When referrals/applications for development come through municipal, regional, provincial, federal or Indigenous Nations the Kootenay Lake SGD will help guide decision makers by giving them a standardized risk-based approach to identify if the proposed lakeshore development could impact important Indigenous values or fish and wildlife habitat.

OBJECTIVE:

This project’s objectives are to:

  1. Update and improve the Shoreline Guidance Document (SGD) by completing the following:
    1. Conduct an effectiveness assessment of the 2012 SGD to determine how key stakeholders are using the document and identify areas to improve how the SGD is used and shared.
    2. Update the Cultural Values Study (CVS) which entails an in-depth inventory of sites, ethnography, Yakan Nu?kiy Community engagement, interviews and site visits with Knowledge Holders.
    3. Integrate the updated CVS, Foreshore Inventory Mapping (FIM) as well as the Archeological Overview Assessment and Kootenay Lake Partnership updates into a new and improved SGD.
  2. Conduct communication and outreach activities such as:
    1. Host training sessions on how to use the SGD and facilitate information sessions to communities around Kootenay Lake.
    2. Conducting outreach on what the SGD is and how to use it for key stakeholders.
    3. Designing and distributing an information brochure for Kootenay Lake residents.
  3. Implementation
    1. Coordinate and harmonize bylaw and enforcement efforts on Kootenay Lake with all levels of Government.
    2. Incorporation of the SGD by local and regional governments into planning initiatives such as Development Permit Areas and Official Community Plan policy and objectives, water surface zoning; improving the ability of the Guidelines to protect the ecological, cultural, and archaeological sensitivity of shoreline environments.

PHOTO: Heather Leschied