Settlement planning and lake management in the Cariboo region, British Columbia

The over 1500 lakes in the Cariboo region of British Columbia represent a valued resource which has been subjected in recent years to increasing pressure for various forms of development. Fifteen years of rapid population growth, rising incomes, increased access due to improved highways and greater leisure time have produced, despite economic recession, a situation of continued strong demand for lakeshore residential and recreational property. In addition, lake shorelands may be important to the land base of the forestry and agricultural industries; wetlands are often critical wildlife habitat; and the lakes themselves used for recreation activities and water supply. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the regional district settlement planning process as a potential method for arriving at socially acceptable solutions to issues related to lake management. To augment the evaluation, the general characteristics of the lake management problem are discussed; the results of an examination of provincial statutes, Cariboo Regional District lake shoreland rezoning applications and lake planning reports relating to the Cariboo are presented; and an overview of approaches to lake management is provided. Normative criteria are used to assess the procedural requirements of the settlement planning process as established in the Municipal Act and by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The rationale for this approach is based on the premise that if this planning process complies with criteria derived from the principles of liberal democratic theory, lake management decisions produced through settlement planning will likely be "good" decisions. Normative criteria used to assess the settlement planning process include: 1. opportunity for representation of interests; 2. adequacy of information; 3. opportunity for interaction among participants; 4. efficiency of the process; and 5. effectiveness of the process. The general conclusion drawn from the assessment is that the settlement planning process represents a method that would be acceptable, in light of the above criteria, for making decisions relating to settlement and lake management. This conclusion is subject to the proviso that a regional district faithfully adheres to established procedures for preparing settlement plans. Recommendations for improving the settlement planning process, from a normative perspective, include the following: 1. The participation of non-institutional interests (such as the general public and interest groups) should become a required rather than a discretionary element of the settlement planning process at the plan intitiation and plan preparation stages. 2. Settlement plan boundaries and terms of reference should be referred to agencies which had the opportunity to be represented in the settlement planning process prior to the elimination of regional district Technical Planning Committees at the initiation of a plan to provide these agencies the opportunity to determine if their interests are affected and their participation in plan preparation warranted. 3. A regional district considering the preparation of a settlement plan that focuses on lake management issues should attempt to establish cooperative planning programs with other agencies that have interests in land use planning and water resources management. 4. A regional district should conduct public meetings and special purpose agency meetings during the preparation of a settlement plan to provide the opportunity for interaction among participants. 5. Both regional districts and provincial ministries should continue efforts to improve the coordination of planning activities of interest to each level of government. The proposed application of settlement planning to lake management issues is largely a response to the changing environment in which regional district planning takes place. Recent changes include the elimination by the provincial government of regional district authority to prepare regional plans and the cancellation of existing plans; the dissolution of Technical Planning Committees; changes in regional board voting procedures on planning matters; changes in the municipal/regional district funding arrangement whereby municipalities may decide they will no longer participate in or share the costs of regional district planning activities; and a requirement that in future, rural plans must be supported by a referendum in the area to be planned to qualify for provincial funding. The latter two changes are potentially the most significant, as they create the possibility that regional district planning budgets could be reduced to the point where policy planning is not economically viable. It is thus apparent that regional district planning exists in a turbulent environment and faces a highly uncertain future.

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