RM to keep watch on Pelican Lake boat launches

The Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes is adjusting its “one-boat, one-lake” program this year to have a staff member who patrols roads around Pelican Lake ensuring that boat launches are used properly.

Rumours reached council’s office last year that some boaters were using boat launches without committing themselves to the recently introduced one-boat, one-lake program or having their watercraft inspected, Reeve Darren Seymour told the Sun on Thursday. Seymour said that the municipality chose to launch a patrol program in response.

“We’re going to start this roving program, just to see if in fact, that is an issue,” Seymour said. “If we have an issue, we’ll address it and try to alleviate any concerns.”

The roving staff member will visit launches around the lake south of Ninette and pass information along to lake users, and will also report cases to the municipality if boaters are found to be using launches improperly, Seymour said.

The program will be much the same as when it was introduced last year, save for the new patrolling staff member.

The Pelican Lake policy was introduced in 2025 to prevent aquatic invasive species (AIS), such as zebra mussels, from entering the lake. Boat launches around the lake were gated and made unavailable to visitors, who were directed to launch at Ninette, where boat inspections took place. The municipality hired staff to inspect boats at that location, conducting a total of 418 inspections in the first year, and turning away 33 watercraft.

Locals, such as taxpayers, cottage owners and seasonal renters, were given a code to access locked launches around the lake and were not required to have boat inspections upon launch — if they signed up for a one-boat, one-lake policy. They were eligible to purchase a $100 decal that committed their watercraft to be used only at Pelican Lake.

The new patrolling staff member will be a converted role from last year, and not a new staff member added. Seymour said that the patrolling staff member will be an inspector from last year, but their responsibility will be to educate the public and ensure compliance this year rather than to inspect watercraft for aquatic invasive species.

“It’s not to do inspections, it’s just information, and to make sure that people that are accessing the gates have their decals — and they haven’t somehow received the code from a neighbour or somebody,” Seymour said. “We have heard a couple instances where some people are putting their boats in at the locations (without the decal) stickers.”

Now entering its second year, the program received $100,000 from the Manitoba government to continue the proactive approach against AIS. The provincial announcement was made last week, along with six other groups that received funding for AIS protection efforts.

Seymour said the funding will be used primarily to pay for staff wages for boat inspectors and the roving staff member. The leading expense of the program in its pilot year was wages, representing roughly 67 per cent of costs.

The municipality has had all the same boat inspectors return for the 2026 season that were part of the pilot, Seymour said. The staff have also undergone continued training providing by the Manitoba government.

Decal sales and boat inspections raised revenue to fund the program last year. The decals made up $70,937 out of $87,640 of the program revenues on its pilot year. The program received $120,000 in grant funding from the province, and ended with a surplus due to the grant. The surplus is being used to pay for the program going forward, Seymour said.

The recipients for the 2026 provincial funding for aquatic invasive species control include $116,106 for Norway House Cree Nation, $53,500 for Rossburn Municipality, $52,000 for the Municipality of Harrison Park, $48,500 for Hillside Beach Community Association Inc., $32,073 for Gull Lake Basin Management Board Inc. and $7,820 for Citizens for Protecting Our Northern Waterways Inc.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com