Chapman Lake, located in the middle of Tetrahedron Provincial Park, is at the centre of a dispute over the future of the park and the role it should have in the region’s water supply.
(Sunshine Coast Region District) What is the purpose of a provincial park?
Janyk is one of a number of people fighting a plan by the Sunshine Coast Regional District to install a new pipeline to draw more water from a lake in the centre of the park.
Drought triggered changes Chapman Lake has been the primary water source for the region since long before the provincial park was established in 1995.
But two droughts in the summer of 2015 and 2017 pushed the region into Stage 4 water restrictions, forcing the district to reassess its water supply, including how much water it draws out of Chapman Lake.
"If they do that, its going to fundamentally ruin the park, and its not going to solve the long-term problem for the Sunshine Coast Regional District, which requires more and more water," said Janyk.
Protecting the local water supply But others like SCRD Director Mark Lebbell say Chapman Lake was always intended to be the main water source for the region, even before the park was created in 1995 by the NDP.
At the time, many looked on the creation of the park as the best way to protect the watershed from logging.
"There are alternatives that the regional district can pursue," said Janyk.
An open house is not a proper process for the significance of what is being proposed here."