The Capital Regional District will consider a pilot project to increase safety at two area beaches, but the plan doesn’t call for lifeguards.

CRD staff on Wednesday recommended equipping the main beach at Thetis Lake and Hamsterly Beach at Elk Lake with personal floatation devices (PFDs) and life rings to assist anyone struggling in the water.

“I feel that safety at area beaches is good but there are “risk takers” that create an element of concern and more education and awareness should help,” Judy Brownoff, CRD board member and parks committee vice-chair tells Capital Daily.

“One of my fellow directors mentioned he used to jump off [the] cliff at Thetis and would not do it now. I remember doing that with my Irish Setter and swimming to the island, I too would not do that today … more aware of danger under the water!”

Brownoff said she agrees with Island Health when it says it’s not one particular strategy, but a combination that would best limit the number of water tragedies in the region. 

“Yes, there has been public support for lifeguards but some other things could help as well,” she said, adding more kids taking swimming lessons as an example.

“I think partnerships with local governments will be important,” Brownoff said.

Few deaths at beaches with lifeguards

The BC Coroners Service said less than 1% of drownings occur at beaches monitored by lifeguards, but the Lifesaving Society, which promotes safe swimming, said even 1% is too many.

Kimiko Hirakida, a director with Lifesaving Society BC & Yukon Branch said her organization will “always” advocate for public safety by having lifeguards on public beaches. “But in that absence, public access life rings (PAL units) or lifejacket loaner stations are well utilized by the public.”

The CRD quotes the Lifesaving Society's estimate that it could cost approximately $270K per beach to staff lifeguards from May through September or $1.35M for lifeguards on the region’s five busiest beaches. "Currently, there are no funds in the 2024 or 2025 budget that would cover this service," a CRD staffing report said.

If the CRD board approves the motion, it would have rings and PFDs covered but of its 18 regional parks with fresh and saltwater swimming, not one has a lifeguard. The CRD discontinued lifeguard services at its regional parks in 2003, citing costs, challenges in recruiting qualified lifeguards, and the overall trend among municipalities and other park agencies to lose the lifeguards. CRD staff asked 20 BC regional districts about water safety, and of the 18 that responded, none—except for a community park in Cowichan Valley—had lifeguards in place.

Coroners report has grim statistics

A report from BC’s Coroners Service released this week said the number of drownings on the Island had increased significantly. Fifteen people drowned on the Island in 2021. Two years later, 32 drowned.

“It’s a very concerning number that there were 32 drownings on Vancouver Island last year, which is more than double what we saw two years ago,” Dr. Murray Fyfe, Island Health medical health officer told CHEK News. 

Wednesday’s motion was not related to the release of that report, said Scott Goodmanson, Langford’s mayor who sits on the CRD’s parks committee, which he said had been discussing beach safety back in November. “It had nothing to do with the recent tragedy. It just is the unfortunate timing,” he said.

That recent tragedy involved a 17-year-old who was unconscious when pulled from Langford Lake on June 15. Keron ‘Dequan’ McKay died four days later in hospital. 

The Coroners Service report said there were 101 accidental drowning deaths in BC last year, approximately 25% more than average over the 2013-2023 period. Not surprisingly, most of the deaths occurred during in the summer, with the majority usually in July. Four in five (79%) of the victims were male, and most (89%) were from BC.

Language actually plays a factor

That brings up another factor in drowning deaths which the CRD’s parks committee has acknowledged.

The CRD says language barriers and unfamiliarity with BC lakes are factors to consider. Wednesday’s staffing report said visitors or people new to the area are four times more likely to be unable to swim than those born in Canada. It said four of the seven people who drowned at Thetis Lake since 1999 were international visitors.

It cited a coroner's report from 2006 that suggested visitors to BC “might not realize that the lakes can be colder than those they are used to and that they may be unfamiliar with underwater hazards.”

In response to that 2006 report, the CRD put symbols on its public warning signs and seven years later, added internationally recognizable images, shapes, and colours.

What the report found

The Coroners Service Report also found swimming to be the most common activity where drowning deaths occurred, tied at 18% with boating and falling into water. Most BC drowning deaths happened in rivers and creeks (28%) and in lakes or ponds (also 28%). 

One in five (20%) of drowning victims were aged 19-29, followed by people aged 50-59 (16%) and those 70 and older (also 16%). Hirakida said swimming is a life skill and should be seen as part of the safety solution. 

“We are seeing lots of municipalities and providers stepping up to think outside of the box to provide swim lessons, but we would love to see swimming added to a school curriculum,” she said, addressing a concern Island Health's Fyfe shared with the CRD parks committee about tepid swimming lesson enrollment. 

The report also said between 2013 and 2022, alcohol and/or drugs were found to be a contributing factor in 39% of drowning deaths.

“In young adults, 15-34, alcohol was a factor in 31% of the drownings for this age group,” Hirakida tells Capital Daily. “More shocking though, is the 40% of drownings where alcohol was a factor for middle-aged adults, age 25-64. So, older does not always mean wiser.”

‍What the CRD is doing now  

CRD park rangers and bylaw officers team with Westshore RCMP and View Royal Fire to keep a presence at Thetis Lake Regional Park. It said last year, park rangers spent a combined 969 hours at Thetis Lake and Elk/Beaver Lake. Bylaw officers racked up 1,230 hours in the park. They often have to deal with dangerous behaviors, such as alcohol/drug consumption and cliff-jumping, the CRD said in Wednesday’s staff report. 

The CRD has erected signage at area lakes and continues to share water safety messaging on social media. This summer it will host the Lifesaving Society’s Water Wise team, in town to promote water safety.

While acknowledging public education is the most cost-effective way to reach a large number of visitors to regional parks, the CRD's current budget for all communications campaigns for parks and trails is just $35K, the staffing report pointed out.

Wednesday's motion to provide safety equipment to two parks and to report back to the board one year later will go to a vote July 10. If approved, CRD spokesperson Andy Orr said the recommendations could be implemented immediately.