SHAWNIGAN BASIN SOCIETY

Working To Protect South Cowichan Watersheds

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Society is to protect and secure the long-term health and safety of the Shawnigan Lake Community Watershed specifically and the South Cowichan region generally, particularly the drinking water these watersheds provide.
We work to promote a holistic approach toward environmental solutions, community engagement, and local stewardship.

Meet our
Board of Directors

The SBS is responsible for the financial administration and accounting of an annual tax levy CVRD Function 488 which was provided by Shawnigan Lake residents.
We are direct fundraising as the CVRD has set this function fund to $0
(2024,2023,2022,2021, 2020, 2019, 2018)

2024-2025

Directors

Dave Munday
PRESIDENT

Dave (B.Sc., MBA.) is a Senior Environmental Specialist with over 30 years of experience, he has participated as Project Director, Project Manager and Environmental Coordinator for a diverse range of domestic and international projects. He is a registered professional biologist (RPBio.) in British Columbia, and specializes in marine biology, environmental impact assessment, and permitting for aquatic and terrestrial developments.

Bernhard H.J. Juurlink
VICE PRESIDENT

Bernhard H.J. Juurlink has a PhD in Medical Sciences and has spent almost 40 years teaching medical, dental, science and graduate students as well as carrying out research. His research focused on basic mechanisms of oxidative stress and inflammation as well as the anti-oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory effects of Nrf2 activators. His publications can be found on Google Scholar. Since 2015 he has been active in the Shawnigan Research Group’s efforts to obtain removal of the contaminated soil on Cobble Hill Holding’s contaminated soil landfill at 460 Stebbings Road.

Shirley Astleford
Treasurer

A fourth generation Shawnigan resident, business owner and mother of two. Shirley has been engaged in labour and volunteer advocacy for the past 30 years with a focus on organizational and contract analysis and interpretation.
An ardent supporter of long-term planning and the inclusion of all stakeholders as participants in holistic watershed management, she looks forward to contributing toward the resiliency of our watershed for future generations.

Barry Gates

Barry is a dedicated Eco forester who has practices ecological forest planning and management on private forest land on both Vancouver Island and the mainland. For the past 25 years he has been a member of the Eco forestry Institute Society and was the co-chair of the EIS for 10 years. He was instrumental in securing Merv Wilkinson's iconic property 'Wildwood' and putting it into a public trust where it is protected in perpetuity. He is currently on the board of the Trust for Sustainable Forestry and is a consulting member of the Hulitun Suli Society, a Coast Salish Indigenous led and run organization. Barry uses an Eco forestry model at site level planning and Herb Hammonds 'Ecosystem Based Conservation Planning' at the watershed and landscape planning level. He is currently working with Indigenous language speakers & knowledge keepers to integrate traditional knowledges with ecosystem based planning to bring traditional Indigenous values into the modern world of forest management and harvesting. Barry brought the first FSC certified woodlot into the Shawnigan watershed, worked on the first conservation community and Community Land Stewardship zoning in the CVRD and worked with Herb Hammond to develop the Ecosystem Based Conservation Plan for the Shawnigan watershed. He is committed to an eco-centric philosophy which places human cultures and their economies within a respectful and kin-centric relationship with fully functioning, healthy and protected ecosystems.

Bill Savage

Bill has been a Shawnigan resident and community volunteer for many years, participating on the Parks and Recreation Commission from 2005 to 2015. He estimates spending at least 300 days of the calendar year on the lake itself and consequently, has considerable knowledge regarding past & current events affecting the health and well-being of Shawnigan Lake.

Cliff Evans

Cliff Evans has been a resident of Shawnigan Lake for 67 years. He has been instrumental in successful campaigns preventing the ECO Depot from being located on farmland on Cameron Taggart Rd as well as stopping an illegal garbage dump and a gravel washing operation causing silt pollution of Shawnigan Creek at Owl Rd. Cliff served with the Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers for 27 years in several Canadian Provinces, 9 years in Europe and a year in the Middle East. On retirement from the Armed Forces he was a Chief planner/superintendent for Inco Sulawesi Indonesia Mining. As a long-term member of the Shawnigan research group which monitors contaminated soil sites, Shawnigan creek and Lake, he also takes an active role in the Shawnigan Basin Society and believes in being an environmental team player.

Dr Linda Gregory

Linda Gregory completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Queen’s University, her MSc in fish physiology at the University of Manitoba, and her PhD in nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) transfer from a cattle feedlot to ground water and an adjacent river, at the University of Victoria. Her professional career included seven years with the BC Ministry of Environment, largely as part of the Kootenays Watershed Study, collecting, analyzing and summarizing water quality data. She also taught a variety of courses – primarily in the Biology Department – at the University of Victoria, and prepared contract reports for the BC and Federal Ministries of Environment. These reports focused on different aspects of water quality: analyses and summaries of existing data, developing groundwater quality objectives (Osoyoos), and preparing sampling training programs. In addition, she prepared several species summaries for COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada). She is now retired and is a member of the Shawnigan Research Group and a Director with the Shawnigan Basin Society.

John Robertson

John is an avid paddler, who grew up in Langford and always had an affinity towards the outdoors. He attended UBC Faculty of Forestry and worked as a Professional Forester, across Vancouver Island and much of the BC interior. John left the forest profession and ventured to Southern California with his wife Leslie where he pursued a career in education. He returned to university and acquired a Master of Science degree in Education Administration and was a district administrator for Science, Health and Physical Education instruction. He guided a district of 42,000 students through the adoption of new science standards, planning and implementing professional development for teachers grades K through 12 . John has developed an expertise in STEM education outreach and program development partnering with municipal governments, the business community and higher education, to connect students to real world STEM applications and careers. John retired and returned to Vancouver Island and lives in the Shawnigan Lake area. John is committed to advocating for a balanced, ecosystem focused approach to managing decisions affecting the natural environment and developing communities. He believes the most important part of that work is with the youth who are facing the consequences of our past and current choices we make as a society.

Marcy Fenske
Secretary

For as long as Marcy can remember, she has felt awe, curiosity and reverence for the natural world. As a recent resident of Vancouver Island, witnessing its astounding beauty and biodiversity threatened by the impact of insensitive development, deforestation and climate change, including water sparsity, calls her to service in environmental stewardship.

Marcy holds a degree in Business Management and a Diploma in Human Resources and has held various positions in management, marketing, client and labour relations. She enjoys creating connections with various individuals and organizations with passion, kindness and engaging communication skills. She is a CVRD Parks Advisory Commission Member Volunteer in Mill Bay and spends time in nature every day.

Kyle Kilgour

Kyle is a risk-management and natural systems specialist with 24 years of wilderness guiding and leadership experience. He is an instructor of canoeing, kayaking and SUP. He enjoys swimming in Shawnigan lake, skateboarding and being quiet in the woods.

Bryn Wyka

Bryn (and family) are new(ish) to Shawnigan lake but not to the Island… having spent and loved 15 years split between Port McNeill, Zeballos, Courtney, Royston and Victoria! My career highlights include, working as a Watershed Ecologist responsible for the largest restoration project in BC, partnering with First Nations groups (Lax-kw’alaams + Kyuquot) on forestry and ecological matters, contributing to a Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping whitepaper, leading software components of a satellite build and launch, developing and producing some of the finest video games on the planet, winning a hackathon with our prototype geo-spatial platform, a machine learning patent, to helping deliver world class design, collaboration and prototyping system to the market. I look forward to working with the community to help best utilize and safeguard the Shawnigan Basin!

How We Work

Functional Core Capabilities of the Society

Development of a Watershed Master Plan based on ecological, physiographic and socioeconomic information that is assembled and catalogued from a variety of governments, research programs, and private sector sources.

Systematic engagement and integration of local watershed management efforts with private sector land owners, the CVRD, agencies of senior governments, and similar civic watershed initiatives arising elsewhere.

Preparation of grant requests to foundations and government infrastructure and environmental improvement programs for projects intended to improve the ecological status and function of the Shawnigan Watershed.

Core Administrative Functions of the Society
Previously Funded by CVRD Tax Allocation for which funding ceased in 2018

Provisions of a watershed planning office in Shawnigan Village, cost-shared with other public and private sector partners, where the Society can keep records, display maps and models, meet with interested parties, hold public planning sessions, and provide access to Basin Society members and staff.

Provision of an Administrative Assistant to organize the day-to-day work of the Society in public communication and involvement, engagement and support of volunteers, research assembly, planning, fund raising, record keeping, and project reporting.
Executive Director duties are currently provided by volunteers.