The Thompson-Nicola Regional District wants the ability to restrict boating during emergencies.
The board recently voted to submit a resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities, calling for authority to restrict and prohibit use and or speed of motorized watercraft when a state of local emergency has been declared.
TNRD chair Ken Gillis discussed the issue with B.C. Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Mike Farnworth in Victoria.
“We are quite hopeful that we will get some results on that because once the waters are in a flood situation, there are areas of land exposed to those waters which are not exposed to the waters under normal circumstances,” Gillis said.
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“So they’re not fortified in any ways against those waves. So, when people are putting up huge wakes with boats under those conditions, that does pose a real serious problem both for erosion and for safety.”
Gillis stressed restrictions would only apply when a state of local emergency has been declared, noting there have been cases of people standing up to their knees in water filling sandbags, while simultaneously being hit by boat wakes.
“It has nothing to do with regular boating,” he said.
The resolution will be debated during the UBCM convention, which will be held in Vancouver from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27.
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