Greeting Letter to GLWS Members | July 31, 2023

Hello and greetings to all of our Gull Lake Watershed Society (GLWS) members

Membership

We report that our GLWS membership has now grown from:

• 54 persons as at April 29 to
• 351 persons as at May 29 to                 
• 960 persons as at June 29 to
• 1,456 persons as at July 29
• and we continue to grow each day while we as a small “not for profit” society are so grateful to each and every one of our members for their love and concern for our Gull Lake. Our goal is 5,000 members  by the end of September 2024 and still onward from there.

We need as many members as possible to eventually engage the Alberta Government’s various ministries including Environment and Protected Areas, Agriculture and Irrigation, Forestry and Parks, and Tourism and Sport who all presently appear entirely uninterested in our low lake level water problem in spite of the continual works performed by our MLA’s Jennifer Johnson on the east side of the lake (Lacombe/Ponoka) and Jason Nixon on the west side of the lake (Rimbey/Rocky Mountain House/Sundry) resulting in “the more members we have, the stronger our voice becomes.”

Please spread the word to your family members, friends, neighbours, community groups, workmates, and anyone else who appreciates and enjoys our beautiful pristine Gull Lake.

Our society’s website “Gull Lake Watershed Society” contains a page entitled “Membership” which asks only 3 questions-first name, last name, and e-mail address. There is no charge to belong to our society but we really need as many members as possible.

Lake Level Information

• Preferred Level 899.46     Actual Level as at July 29/23 6:05 AM 898.62 = 33.12 inches lower than Preferred 
• Target Level 899.16                “          “          “          “         “          “                = 21.26 inches lower than Target
• Trigger Level 898.90               “          “          “          “          “         “                = 11.04 inches lower than Trigger

The Peter Lougheed government (recognizing Gull Lake as one of Alberta’s jewels) repaired our low-level water problem back in 1977 by introducing the stabilization initiative and machinery required to stabilize Gull Lake water levels while that stabilization initiative worked wonderfully for 41 years until 2018 when Alberta Environment and Parks placed a 5-year moratorium on the water licence allowing pumping from the Blindman River due to the discovery of Prussian Carp in the river. Our low water level problem can be so easily repaired with stabilization resumed using science, however, when seemingly uncaring government ministries refuse to act on their own mandates or even listen to the available science presented to them, it then goes to the “Power of the People” to force our provincial government to make those ministries listen and act and that my friends are where we as a membership are headed.

Annual General Meeting:

Our annual general meeting for this 2023 year will be held on Saturday, August 26, at 10:00 AM at Summer Village of Gull Lake Community Centre located at 27 Lakeview Avenue in the Summer Village of Gull Lake. We are hopeful that all of our members can come to meet our president Mr. Norval Horner P. Eng. who will be bringing our membership up to date on the latest developments having to do with our low lake levels.  Also, elections will be held.

The new board will be asked to investigate the process of changing our society from that of a not-for-profit society to that of a not-for-profit “charitable” society thereby allowing the issuance of income tax receipts for any donations received. In keeping with existing policy, members are not charged for membership, however, the fact remains that the society does require some funding to operate. We are hopeful that a volunteer from our membership familiar with such works might step forward to assist the board in coming to that end.

Regards:
Henry Brander
GLWS Membership Director