13 Tk’emlúps Lake

About Kamloops Lake

The beautiful and panoramic Kamloops (or Tk’emlúps) Lake in British Columbia, Canada, is located west of Kamloops and east of the Savona community. Kamloops in the Indigenous language is Tk’emlúps, meaning the confluence of the North and South Thompson River waters (Wonders, 2010). The dimensions of the Lake are 29 km long and 1.6 km wide, with a shoreline length of 60.5 km (World Lake Database, n.d.). The lake’s average depth is 71 m, with a maximum depth of 143 m. The surface area is 52 km² or 5,200 ha and averages 3.7 km³ of water. The lake’s water volume fluctuates year-round due to the Thompson River usually rising in the summer from winter lows. The normal range of annual level fluctuation is 5 m.

Bunchgrass and sagebrush hillsides with steep embankments surround the Lake with pockets of Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine, and spruce trees (“Kamloops Lake,” 2023). Wildlife is abundant, including the endangered mule deer and rocky mountain sheep. The Canadian National and Pacific railways pass along the north and south hillsides of the Lake. Thompson River flows into the Lake at the east end and exits at the west end.

The Domtar pulp mill discharges daily treated effluent to the Thompson River (Kamloops This Week, 2018a). Also, the City of Kamloops discharges tertiary treated domestic effluent into the River from the Kamloops Sewage Treatment plant (City of Kamloops, n.d.). In the early 1970s, major water quality problems were observed due to effluent discharges; however, government regulations and state-of-the-art wastewater treatment technology led to a significant improvement in water quality.

Direct & Indirect Value

The lake has a direct use value to humans for recreational activities, such as boating with two boat launches available and fishing for rainbow trout, northern pikeminnow, and bull trout (Angler’s Atlas, n.d.e). Other activities at the lake include swimming, hiking, and wildlife watching (Tobiano, n.d.b). The approximately 400 ha (1000 ac) Tobiano resort community is a recent development of mostly single-family homes with an internationally renowned golf course overlooking the Lake (Tobiano, n.d.a). In addition, the community of Savona’s water supply comes from the Lake, adding to provisional services (Thompson-Nicola Regional District, n.d.). Kamloops Lake also provides researchers with opportunities to explore nature.

The important ecosystem services include indirect benefits through regulation and maintenance services, such as water purification, erosion prevention, flood protection, carbon sequestration, air quality, local climate regulation, habitat to marine life and maintenance, and biological control. Finally, the Lake provides the non-use options such as bequest, and existence values, which are difficult to measure yet still important to the community. For further discussion on these ecosystem services, see Costanza et al. (1997).

Valuation of Kamloops Lake

Table IE reproduces the values transferred from studies of lakes in Canada, the US, and the UK, as reported in the Introduction and accessed from Brander et al. (2023). There are 81 values provided across only eight ecosystem services out of 17. Hence, the prices per hectare per year of lakes are underreported since many important functions’ lakes provide to us and to future generations have missing values. The average gives the highest valuation at $78,804/ha/year, followed by a lower value of $57,726/ha/year for the median since outliers are not weighted more heavily, and lastly, the most conservative valuation is $23,542/ha/year due to the removal of ecosystem services that had only one or two values. Most of the valuation is based on provisioning and cultural services. However, regulation and maintenance services are absent from the assessment and hence, the previous figures are an underrepresentation of the valuation of Kamloops Lake in terms of the annual ecosystem services it provides.

Table IE: Total Value of Ecosystem Services (2020 International $/ha/year)

Note. Adapted from Ecosystem System Valuation Database by Brander et al. (2023).

Table 1 transfers these prices to Kamloops Lake. The highest assessment is $410 million per year, followed by the median price per hectare per year, which has a value of $300 million per year of ecosystem services, and the most conservative estimate shows benefits in the order of $122 million per year (all figures in 2020 USD values). Kamloops’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was estimated at $4.61 billion in 2020 (Venture Kamloops, 2018). Thus, Kamloops Lake represents, at minimum, 2.6% of Kamloops GDP. The value of the lake as a natural asset is at the minimum USD 8.2 billion using the 1.5% social discount rate and USD 122.4 billion using the lower discount rate of 0.1%. This natural asset value represents USD 82,000 per person living in Kamloops at the lower end and USD 122,400 at the higher end of an already conservative assessment of the value of ecosystem services. We are all rich in the collective goods of our natural assets; hence, we need to protect and maintain their functioning for the future generations of all species.

Table 1: Value of Kamloops Lake as a Natural Asset

Valuation of Tobiano Community

The Tobiano community is located on the southwest hillside of Kamloops Lake (Tobiano, n.d.b). New custom and semi-custom houses are designed to harmonize with the surrounding beautiful natural landscape. The lifestyle is tranquil and invigorating; residents can gaze at the starry night sky, take in the panoramic scenery every day, go on an outdoor adventure, or play golf on an 18-hole championship golf course.

We can assess if land values or housing prices capitalize on the stunning view using the BC Assessment (2023), which provides property assessments as of July 1, 2022 (downloaded on April 9, 2023). There were 179 properties, of which 77.7% had a house built on the land. Based on 174 properties, the average land value was $431,109, with a minimum of $286,000 and a maximum of $827,000. Meanwhile, out of 173 buildings, their average valuation was $913,203 (excluding land value), with a minimum of $365,000 and a maximum price for a building at $3,426,000. The average size of the lot was 0.191 ha, with the smallest at 0.56 ha and the largest lot at 0.809 ha. The total land valuation of 174 lots at 33 ha total is estimated at $75 million. The total value of the 173 buildings is estimated at $121.45 million. Both land and building valuation totals to approximately $200 million.

The hedonic price technique, whereby land values (in logs) depend on land size (in logs), can be used to examine if land or housing prices incorporate the stunning lake view. The lots included for this method are the ones on the west edge, east edge, interior north, and interior south zones. The base case was lots adjacent to Canadian Highway 1. Findings from the estimation suggest that lakefront properties within the Tobiano property command a 57.5% premium relative to those lots that are closest to the highway 95% CI [52.2%,62.8%]. The next most highly valued lots were at the east edge towards Kamloops commanding a premium of 29.9% relative to close highway lots with a 95% CI [26.6%,33.3%], followed by the interior middle closest to the lakefront at a 24.4% premium with 95% CI [20.4%, 28.6%], and then those lots at the west edge of the community at an 18.4% premium always relative to those lots closest to the highway 95% CI [15.5%,21.2%]. Finally, the lots across from the interior middle south were at a premium of 9.2% with CI [4.0%,14.4%].

Basically, all lots relative to those closest to the highway were at a premium. Land values increase at a decreasing rate with respect to land size, which is expected. A small parcel has a higher price per square footage than a larger parcel. Land prices with respect to lot size are inelastic. A 10% increase in lot size increases land value by 2.0% with a 95% CI [1.6%,2.3%]. Land with a view of the lake is capitalized into land values relative to any other zone within the Tobiano community. A building on the property was not statistically significant. Everyone in the Tobiano community is willing to pay a very high price to be close to nature with outdoor adventure, golfing, lake activities, and stunning views.

Table 2 provides a summary of the factors that influence land values in Tobiano.

Table 2: Factors Influencing Land Values in Tobiano

Concluding Remarks

The Tk’emlps Lake is very important to the Secwépemc people and their nation (Wonders, 2010). From the point of view of ecosystem services, the lake has many visible and intangible benefits. It is an important place for fish, birds, and other animals to live, showing the importance of maintaining biodiversity. Fishing has always been a big part of Secwépemc culture, and the lake’s water has always been good for this activity. In addition to providing food and water, the Tk’emlps Lake is very important for controlling the weather, cleaning the water, and reducing the risk of flooding. In addition, the lake’s peaceful beauty offers cultural and recreational benefits to the Secwépemc people and the settlers. Before establishing the reserve in 1877, the Secwépemc people spent the winter in many pit house villages on both sides of Kamloops Lake and where the lake empties into the Thompson River, while during the other seasons, they gathered resources travelling throughout the territory.

The importance of the lake in terms of ecosystem services it yields annually is significant. At the most conservative valuation, the lake provides USD 122 million of ecosystem services annually with a valuation of USD 8 billion with a 1.5% discount rate and a $122 billion valuation using the 0.5% discount rate that, in our opinion, respects Indigenous values towards the future unborn generations in providing them with ecosystem services of close to a similar valuation that the current generation receives from the lake. The latter valuation is five times the value of all properties in Kamloops, estimated at $24 billion and 33% of the former valuation of USD 8 billion. It is important to keep the lake in its natural state, protecting biodiversity, and in particular reducing human-induced stressors in order to learn and align our ethical ideals with those of the Secwépemc people (Smol, 2019; Birk et al., 2020; Albert et al., 2021).

Media Attributions

Figure 1: “Kamloops Lake” by Orange Suede Sofa (2011), via Wikimedia Commons, is used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

Figure 2: “IMG_8299.jpg” by Murray Foubister (2018), via Flickr, is used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

References

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Foubister, M. (2018). IMG_8299.jpg [Image]. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/27FMRgv

Kamloops Lake. (2023, April 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kamloops_Lake&oldid=1151749138

Kamloops This Week. (2018a, February 2). Domtar says material in river is fully treated effluent from Kamloops pulp mill. https://archive.kamloopsthisweek.com/2018/02/02/domtar-says-material-in-river-is-fully-treated-effluent-from-kamloops-pulp-mill/

Orange Suede Sofa. (2011). Kamloops Lake [Image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamloops_Lake.jpg

Smol, J. P. (2019). Under the radar: Long-term perspectives on ecological changes in lakes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286(1906), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0834

Thompson-Nicola Regional District. (n.d.). Savona community water system. https://www.tnrd.ca/services/water-sewage/water-systems/savona-community-water-system/

Tobiano. (n.d.a). Home. https://tobiano.ca/

Tobiano. (n.d.b). Tobiano community. https://tobiano.ca/community/

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Wonders, K. (2010). Sewepemc. www.FirstNations.eu. http://www.firstnations.de/development/secwepemc.htm

World Lake Database. (n.d.). Kamloops Lake. International Lake Environment Committee Foundation. https://wldb.ilec.or.jp/Display/html/3455