PROJECTS OF THE BASIN SOCIETY
Over the past eight years, the Basin Society has collected a large body of technical data and literature,
which was required to develop the necessary scientific baseline of the Shawnigan Lake watershed
for the purposes of credible knowledge, good judgement, and long-term decision making.
which was required to develop the necessary scientific baseline of the Shawnigan Lake watershed
for the purposes of credible knowledge, good judgement, and long-term decision making.
Ecosystem-Based Conservation Plan
A comprehensive report underpinning the direction of watershed governance
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This report takes a progressive approach to watershed management by looking at the watershed holistically. The value for nature to provide economy is dependent on the health of the watershed. The integration and implementation of the plan for Shawnigan residents will largely depend on the cooperation between private land owners and the interconnected and interdependent integrity of their various connective properties.
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Using Nature's Design and Assisting Natural Systems to Achieve Ecological Integrity and Resiliency
Ecological restoration is one of the major focuses of the Shawnigan Basin Society, which has now hosted three ecological restoration projects (also known as bioengineering) in the community: The first was in the fall of 2015 on private property; the second in the fall in the West Provincial Park; and the third in the summer of 2017, again on private property.
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. Natural processes have been doing this for millions of years. By observing how these natural processes operate to restore disturbed sites, effective restoration strategies can be developed. The first step in this process is to identify how the natural systems operate in the region where the restoration project is to occur. Wat are the successional pattern? Are there specific pioneering species that occur on the substrates that are similar to the substrates being restored? Are there specific processes that occur in the wet areas or on the dry knolls? Are there structures that are important to the growth of specific species? Once this understanding has been gained, the next step in the recovery process is to identify the filters that are preventing these processes from naturally restoring the site.
Starting with pioneering species is often an effective way of restoring drastically disturbed sites. Seeding or planting pioneering species can be used to re-establish natural successional trajectories that will lead to the recovery of the site. Other species will move into the restoration site when conditions are appropriate. In some cases the sue of these species in soil bioengineering structures can provide a very effective solution to drastically disturbed sites.
Restoration is a young science and many of its intricacies have yet to be elucidated. By trying new treatments and looking to natural processes for solutions, many new restoration strategies will be found (Polster, D., (n.d.), Natural Processes: Restoration of Drastically Disturbed Sites).
The Basin Society encourages ecologically sound solutions when addressing the problem of foreshore erosion. Following ecological restoration techniques will also act to protect overall ecological integrity at the lake’s edge where root systems clean surface water entering the lake; enhance and protect a healthy plant and aquatic habitat; increase environmental biodiversity; restore ecological services, which function to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff into the water; enhance opportunities for privacy; and aesthetically enhance property value. Lakeside and water solutions become reciprocally possible: from the lake to the shore and conversely, from the shore to the lake at the same time!
Retaining walls are expensive, negatively impact riparian areas, and resist wave energy (which eventually causes them to be damaged). Instead, wattle walls and live stakes slow the flow of water, absorbing and disbursing wave energy as it makes its way to shore.
The Basin Society invites you to consider having your lakeside property assessed for a similar project. We aim to undertake three additional projects along the Park’s foreshore to demonstrate the power of these simple, one-time effort and inexpensive techniques. Nature’s resilience will become clear as these restoration projects develop independently.
If you are interested in having your property assessed or require further information, please visit the Shawnigan Basin Society’s website at shawiganwater.org or send an email to info@shawniganwater.org.
TOGETHER, we can reduce our ecological footprint with cost effective, environmentally safe, and long-term solutions! Please, do your part, to help keep Shawnigan Lake clean!
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. Natural processes have been doing this for millions of years. By observing how these natural processes operate to restore disturbed sites, effective restoration strategies can be developed. The first step in this process is to identify how the natural systems operate in the region where the restoration project is to occur. Wat are the successional pattern? Are there specific pioneering species that occur on the substrates that are similar to the substrates being restored? Are there specific processes that occur in the wet areas or on the dry knolls? Are there structures that are important to the growth of specific species? Once this understanding has been gained, the next step in the recovery process is to identify the filters that are preventing these processes from naturally restoring the site.
Starting with pioneering species is often an effective way of restoring drastically disturbed sites. Seeding or planting pioneering species can be used to re-establish natural successional trajectories that will lead to the recovery of the site. Other species will move into the restoration site when conditions are appropriate. In some cases the sue of these species in soil bioengineering structures can provide a very effective solution to drastically disturbed sites.
Restoration is a young science and many of its intricacies have yet to be elucidated. By trying new treatments and looking to natural processes for solutions, many new restoration strategies will be found (Polster, D., (n.d.), Natural Processes: Restoration of Drastically Disturbed Sites).
The Basin Society encourages ecologically sound solutions when addressing the problem of foreshore erosion. Following ecological restoration techniques will also act to protect overall ecological integrity at the lake’s edge where root systems clean surface water entering the lake; enhance and protect a healthy plant and aquatic habitat; increase environmental biodiversity; restore ecological services, which function to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff into the water; enhance opportunities for privacy; and aesthetically enhance property value. Lakeside and water solutions become reciprocally possible: from the lake to the shore and conversely, from the shore to the lake at the same time!
Retaining walls are expensive, negatively impact riparian areas, and resist wave energy (which eventually causes them to be damaged). Instead, wattle walls and live stakes slow the flow of water, absorbing and disbursing wave energy as it makes its way to shore.
The Basin Society invites you to consider having your lakeside property assessed for a similar project. We aim to undertake three additional projects along the Park’s foreshore to demonstrate the power of these simple, one-time effort and inexpensive techniques. Nature’s resilience will become clear as these restoration projects develop independently.
If you are interested in having your property assessed or require further information, please visit the Shawnigan Basin Society’s website at shawiganwater.org or send an email to info@shawniganwater.org.
TOGETHER, we can reduce our ecological footprint with cost effective, environmentally safe, and long-term solutions! Please, do your part, to help keep Shawnigan Lake clean!
Foreshore Restoration
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LandSat Maps of Change: More Than Just Pretty Pictures
A Master's thesis on the vegetation changes between 1984 and 2014 in Shawnigan Lake
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This study mapped the vegetation changes between 1984 and 2014 in southern Vancouver Island using various methods, including the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite data. Very detailed analyses in the Shawnigan Lake Watershed during those 31 years provide information on vegetation cover, urban sprawl, and remaining ecological corridors. As climate in the region continues to change and anthropogenic pressures build-up, mapping the changing landscape becomes critical for the adaptive management of the basin. © Mar Martínez de Saavedra Álvarez, MSc. |
Shawnigan Lake Foreshore Inventory 2015 |
A baseline study to assess the riparian vegetation at the shoreline of Shawnigan Lake |
Jenny Berg, BSc |
The objective of this project was to assess the ecological integrity of the riparian zone of Shawnigan Lake and the condition of the immediate foreshore. Over 500 pictures were stitched together and coded to document the current state of the Shawnigan Lake foreshore. The information is presented by sub-basin and highlights five categories of impact. |
In an effort to engage lake stewardship the following information is intended to be a meeting point for citizens to assess what can be done to help protect the water quality in Shawnigan Lake.
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Identify sub-basins utilizing the adjacent image:
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PDF Documents of Foreshore Inventory by Sub-Basin
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Synthesis Reporting
Amalgamating approximately 30 documents to produce one comprehensive report
This informative paper, synthesized by SBS Director Dr. Linda Gregory, summarizes both historical and present land use literature pertaining to the Shawnigan Lake watershed while focusing on their hydrological implications. The paper closely examines water quality, lake limnology, water chemistry, and sediments.
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