Summer 2026
Newsletter

Guardians of Nicola Lake & Watershed Society

Clearer Waters

The lake is clearer this summer than it's been in two years — a hopeful sign.

Expanded Monitoring

New cyanobacteria sampling, satellite testing & a full nutrient budget underway. Learn how to identify a cyanobacteria bloom!

Community in Action

Young Guardians, lake-friendly products, Fun Zones, and more.


We live, work, and play on the traditional and unceded lands of the Nlaka’pamux and Syilx peoples. As Guardians, we respect their enduring connection to these waters and are grateful to learn from their ancestral stewardship as we help steward this watershed.

Summer is here, and with it comes one of the great Canadian traditions: time spent at the lake. Whether we’re boating, fishing, sailing, swimming, reconnecting with family and friends, grilling a favourite meal, or lingering on the dock into the evening, summer at the lake gives us moments we’ll carry well beyond the season.


As we prepare this newsletter, we’re encouraged by the results of our recent Secchi tests, which show the lake is clearer this year than it has been over the past two years. We hope that this positive trend continues. It is a welcome sign of the lake’s resilience and a reminder that, through shared stewardship and care, we can help protect its long-term health and beauty for generations to come.

Conditions can change throughout the season, but there is still every reason to get out and enjoy all that this remarkable place has to offer. By staying informed, making thoughtful choices, and looking out for one another, we can continue to boat, paddle, fish, and swim when conditions are right, while making the most of the moments that make summers at Nicola Lake so special. Everyone who enjoys this lake also has a role in its future. Together, through science, stewardship, and a shared love of Nicola Lake, we can help ensure that generations to come create these same memories.

❤️ "This summer, the lake is clearer than it's been in years, a reminder of just how beautiful and resilient Nicola Lake can be."

"Is the Lake Safe?"

This is one of the questions we hear most often, and we understand why. Everyone wants to know the lake is safe to enjoy with family, friends, and pets.

The reality is that no one can say with certainty that the lake is "safe" at any given time. Water conditions can shift quickly with wind, weather, water temperature, and algae growth. Even when recent test results are good, conditions can vary from one part of the lake to another and change throughout the day.

Regular Monitoring

We conduct ongoing water quality testing and share the most current results.

Science-Based Information

Our role is to provide reliable data, not to tell you what to do — so you can make informed decisions.

Conditions Change

Water quality can vary by location and time of day, even when recent results look good.

🐶 For dog owners: Dogs tend to spend more time in the shallows, are more likely to drink lake water while swimming, and often lick their fur afterward, which can increase their exposure if cyanobacteria are present. Puppies and younger dogs may be more vulnerable because of their smaller size and playful nature. As with people, it's a good idea to avoid areas where you see blue-green scum, paint-like streaks, or water that looks like pea soup. After a swim, a quick rinse with clean water is always a good practice. If your dog seems unwell after being in the lake, it's best to contact your veterinarian.

To help you stay informed, we've created a Water Quality Update page where you'll find our latest sampling results, cyanobacteria monitoring, water clarity readings, and other important updates. As a member you will receive direct updates via email. To go to our page, click below:

👉

Thank you for helping us care for Nicola Lake. By staying informed, watching for changing conditions, and sharing what you see, we're all doing our part to protect this incredible place we love.

The map is not meant to restrict recreation. Instead, it offers practical guidance that helps everyone enjoy the lake while reducing unnecessary impacts on water quality.

Introducing the Nicola Lake Fun Zones Map

This summer, the Guardians launched a new educational Fun Zones Map to help boaters enjoy Nicola Lake while reducing impacts on the lake's health.

Many people think of wakes only in terms of shoreline erosion, but there is another important reason to operate responsibly in shallow water.

Large wakes in shallow areas can stir up bottom sediments. These sediments often hold nutrients such as phosphorus that have built up over many years. When disturbed, those nutrients enter the water column, where they can contribute to algae and cyanobacteria growth.

The new Fun Zones Map identifies where different activities are best suited based on water depth and safety. It encourages wake-surfing and other large-wake activities to stay in deeper water while promoting slower speeds near shorelines, docks, swimmers, paddlers, and environmentally sensitive areas.

Small changes in boating behaviour, when adopted by many lake users, can make a meaningful difference over time. We hope the Fun Zones Map becomes another valuable educational tool that helps protect Nicola Lake while keeping it safe and enjoyable for everyone.

CHOOSE LAKE-FRIENDLY

The products we use every day—shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and dish soap—don’t just disappear. They can build up in the soil around our homes and campsites, and over time, many of those substances can make their way into Nicola Lake.

Choosing plant-based, biodegradable products made with naturally derived ingredients is one simple change that can help protect the lake we all love.

These are just a few affordable options available at many local stores. Every small choice we make adds up.


Adopt a Water Test

Help us continue the important work of monitoring Nicola Lake by adopting a cyanobacteria water test. Our updates are only possible because of regular laboratory testing — providing the science-based information that keeps our community informed all summer long.

$400

Cost of one complete cyanobacteria laboratory test

The equivalent of more than 16 memberships

Every 2 Weeks

Testing frequency

How often we conduct cyanobacteria testing throughout the summer

💧 Adopt a Water Test — $400

Fund one complete cyanobacteria laboratory test.

🤝 Share a Test — $200

Contribute half the cost and we'll match your donation with another supporter to fund a full test.

Every dollar donated goes directly toward cyanobacteria testing. Whether you're an individual, family, business, or community group, we'd be honoured to have you Adopt a Water Test. Together, we can keep watch over Nicola Lake — one test at a time.

Email: [email protected]


Young Guardians set up a cookie and lemonade stand on their own and donated $50 of their proceeds to the Guardians!

Understanding Nicola Lake Through a Comprehensive Nutrient Budget

One of the most important projects underway this year is the development of a comprehensive nutrient budget for Nicola Lake.

In partnership with the Nicola Watershed Governance Project (NWGP), Larratt Aquatic Consulting, the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, and our volunteer monitoring team, this project seeks to answer one of the lake's most pressing questions:

Where are the nutrients entering Nicola Lake, and how much is coming from each source?

Nutrient Sources Identified

Phosphorus and nitrogen enter through streams, groundwater, shoreline runoff, atmospheric deposition, and internal lake loading.

Monthly & Bi-weekly Sampling

Throughout 2026, sampling will take place in the lake and across the watershed, building on data collected in 2025.

Scientific Model Built

Researchers will combine all of this data to model how nutrients move through the Nicola Lake system.

Evidence-Based Solutions

The nutrient budget will help governments and the community prioritize the most effective restoration efforts.

The Guardians are proud to support this project through volunteer water sampling and through close collaboration with our scientific and government partners.

Expanding Our Cyanobacteria Monitoring

Protecting public health takes more than responding to visible blooms — it requires consistent monitoring and clear communication.

This year, the Guardians have expanded our volunteer monitoring program by collecting additional cyanobacteria samples whenever our monitoring teams are out on the lake.

Laboratory testing for cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins continues on a regular schedule, but these added observations help us detect changes much more often throughout the summer.

Cyanobacteria can shift quickly with weather, wind, temperature, and water conditions. Blooms may move from one part of the lake to another within hours, and laboratory testing reflects only the conditions at the time and place sampled.

By increasing our field observations, we can provide more timely updates to members and share information that helps lake users make informed decisions based on current conditions.

We also encourage everyone who spends time on Nicola Lake to learn what cyanobacteria looks like. Visual awareness remains one of our most important tools, especially because conditions can change between scheduled sampling dates.

Together, scientific testing, volunteer monitoring, satellite research, and community awareness are helping build one of the most comprehensive lake monitoring programs Nicola Lake has ever had.

One of the best ways to protect your family and pets is to learn how to identify cyanobacteria blooms. Watch this short video to find out how!

Looking to Space: Satellite Monitoring Comes to Nicola Lake

The Guardians are excited to be part of an innovative new project that could help detect cyanobacteria blooms on Nicola Lake earlier.

Working with the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS), we are helping test how satellite imagery can identify developing bloom conditions before they spread.

During each scheduled lake monitoring trip, our volunteers collect observations that can be compared with satellite images taken the same day. This “ground-truthing” helps researchers evaluate how accurately satellite technology can detect changing conditions on Nicola Lake.

Although this work is still in the testing phase, the long-term goal is to develop a system that can provide earlier warnings of potential blooms, giving governments, lake users, and residents more timely information. If testing continues successfully this season, we hope this technology could become an important monitoring tool as early as next year.

This project is another example of how science, technology, and community volunteers can work together to deepen our understanding of Nicola Lake.

The Guardians continue to work in collaboration with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District as it updates the Nicola Valley Official Community Plan (OCP).

Earlier this month, members of our Board met with TNRD planning staff to discuss how stronger environmental policies can help protect Nicola Lake and its watershed for future generations. While an OCP does not directly regulate every activity that affects the lake, it plays an important role in guiding future development, land-use decisions, and environmental stewardship.

Working with the TNRD to Enhance the Official Community Plan


Proposed enhancements to the OCP from the Guardians below. This goes to a final reading on July 16.

You can find the Proposed OCP HERE


Science Before Significant Development Decisions

Before approving major developments or significant increases in land-use intensity within the Nicola Lake watershed, decisions should be informed by current scientific data, including water quality monitoring, nutrient budget findings, and watershed assessments, so cumulative environmental impacts are fully understood and considered.

Protecting Shorelines and Riparian Areas

Strengthen policies that recognize the importance of protecting and restoring riparian vegetation and natural shorelines, while encouraging practices that reduce erosion, improve habitat, and help limit nutrient loading into Nicola Lake.

Collaborative Watershed Stewardship

Recognize and support ongoing collaboration among governments, Indigenous communities, stewardship organizations, scientists, landowners, and local residents to advance evidence-based watershed management, public education, and long-term monitoring.

Protecting Nicola Lake requires long-term planning grounded in good science. We appreciate the willingness of TNRD staff and elected officials to engage with our Society as the Official Community Plan moves forward.

How Your Membership Makes a Difference

The Guardians of Nicola Lake & Watershed Society is a 100% volunteer organization with no paid staff. Every dollar from memberships and donations goes directly to protecting and restoring Nicola Lake and its watershed.

When you purchase or renew a membership, you invest in science, stewardship, education, and advocacy that help keep Nicola Lake healthy for future generations.

Your membership helps fund:

Water Quality Monitoring

Volunteer teams are on the lake every two weeks throughout the summer, collecting scientific data on water clarity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and other key indicators. These long-term records help us understand how Nicola Lake is changing over time. It takes more than 16 memberships to pay for one cyanobacteria test, which we do every two weeks!

Laboratory Analysis

Professional laboratory testing is one of our largest ongoing expenses. Membership fees help pay for nutrient analysis, cyanobacteria testing, and cyanotoxin testing, providing reliable scientific information that supports public awareness and future management decisions.

Scientific Equipment

Monitoring Nicola Lake requires specialized equipment, including water quality meters, Secchi disks, sampling bottles, safety equipment, coolers, GPS equipment, and other field supplies. Maintaining and replacing this equipment allows our volunteers to collect consistent, high-quality data.

Stewardship Initiatives

Your support helps fund educational signage, QR code information stations, public awareness campaigns, shoreline stewardship projects, and other initiatives that encourage everyone to help protect Nicola Lake.

Collaboration and Advocacy

The Guardians work closely with scientists, government agencies, Indigenous partners, local governments, and watershed organizations to ensure that decisions affecting Nicola Lake are informed by sound science. We advocate for practical, evidence-based solutions while building partnerships that benefit the entire watershed.

Building Knowledge for the Future

Through projects such as the Nutrient Budget, expanded cyanobacteria monitoring, satellite monitoring trials, and ongoing volunteer sampling, we are helping build one of the most comprehensive scientific datasets ever collected for Nicola Lake. This information will guide future restoration efforts and help identify the most effective actions for improving water quality.

Bi-weekly volunteer water quality monitoring

✓ Monthly laboratory nutrient testing

✓ Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin monitoring

✓ Support for the Nicola Lake Nutrient Budget

✓ Satellite monitoring pilot project

✓ Educational QR code signage

✓ Public newsletters and member updates

✓ Government advocacy and watershed planning

✓ Community stewardship initiatives

Every membership strengthens our voice. Every volunteer hour expands our capacity. Every donation helps us do more.


Together, we are creating a future where decisions about Nicola Lake are based on science, collaboration, and stewardship.


Thank you for being part of that future.