by Birgit Arnstein, President, OLWQS
The Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society held its annual Volunteer Appreciation event in September at the home of Bob and Deb Sherwood, at the home of Bob and Deb Sherwood, both long time volunteers with OLWQS!
Also a BIG THANK YOU to Zack Poturica and Nester’s Foods for their continued support and generosity in providing yummy food trays!
At the event, we honoured and thanked Dave Kumka for his many years of dedicated service liaising with the Ministry of Environment and Parks, being a resource in all things related to data collection and management, speaking to the public and developing detailed training and public education materials. Dave will be greatly missed when he moves away, although we hope to stay connected remotely, for his wealth of knowledge and expertise.
David Kumka and Darlene make their mark on Cottonwood Drive.
Our volunteer activities at the OLWQS are varied, appealing to a variety of volunteers and interests. We have a dedicated Board Of Directors who take on various tasks along with about four meetings a year.
We also provide training for our boat crew volunteers who collect Osoyoos Lake data from four distinction regions of Osoyoos Lake at increments of about two meters from the lake’s bottom
to the surface. We test for temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH and water clarity.
We gather all of this data in an easy to understand format which we then share with the BC Ministry of Environment and Parks and post it to our website for others such as the ONA to view and use
(osoyooslake.ca ).
As well, our dedicated pontoon boat crew and Board of Directors take on various other tasks such as fund raising, painting yellow fish, participating in shoreline cleanups and engaging in public
education from bringing in speakers and reaching out speaking to various groups like the Rotary Club Rotary and school groups. Maintaining our Website and Facebook page is also a volunteer position.
(L-R) Jennifer Morton and Birgit Arnstein set up and hosted the information booth.
To continue with all these important activities, we want and need new volunteers. I have personally informed the the Board of Directors, that I will be stepping down from my current position as President at the next AGM in May, 2026. However, I have agreed to stay on for a period of time as Vice President and resource to ensure a smooth transition.
So, in summary, we desperately need volunteers for board members, pontoon boat crew, public speaking and fund raising volunteers as well as many others. If you would like be a part of an important group of people to help keep our beautiful Osoyoos Lake so that future generations can enjoy it as we have, then please contact us by sending an email or leaving a message on our website or Facebook Page
Email: olwqs4info@gmail.com
Website: https://www.osoyooslake.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OLWQS/
