A Kamloops Supreme Court Justice will come down with a final ruling tomorrow about access to two lakes in the Nicola Valley.

Justice Joel Groves ordered public access to Minnie and Stoney Lakes in December, after the path to them had been blocked by the Douglas Lake Cattle Company.

Tomorrow, a ruling is expected to determine who pays legal fees involved in the case and a determination of how the public can access those lakes.

Rick McGowan of the Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club – the defendant in the case – says the club’s legal costs have amounted to more than $300,000, and he expects the lengthy case has cost upwards of $1.5 million for all parties involved – his club, the cattle company and the province.

“In his 79-page ruling in December, he stated in there, until this court orders otherwise or the parties agree, these are my rulings. But the parties couldn’t agree to anything, and Douglas Lake and the government weren’t going to agree what our costs would be, or where public access would be or anything else. They definitely have a different idea,” McGowan says.

“To and including, Douglas Lake and the government were working right up until the 17th of June of this year to participate in a plan to close public access to Minnie Lake, which was bizarre after Justice Groves’ initial ruling. So I’m optimistic that they ticked him off enough that he’s going to rule in favour of the people of B.C.”

McGowan called the ruling in December ‘precedent setting’ for access to land-locked public lakes across B.C. He says there are upwards of 1,000 public lakes in the province that are blocked by private lands.