Whiteswan & St. Mary Lakes Foreshore Integrated Management Plan

Client: Living Lakes Canada

Project: Foreshore Integrated Management Plan (FIMP) is a standard method to map shoreline habitats, assess habitat values, and develop Foreshore Development Guidelines (FDG) to help conserve ecosystems and protect species of conservation concern. Living Lakes Canada, with support from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is leading a program to complete FIMPs for lakes throughout the Columbia Region.  

Services: Masse Environmental was retained to complete a Foreshore Integrated Management Plan for Whiteswan Lake (2020) and St Mary Lake (2022). The main objectives of these projects were to identify foreshore habitat values, sensitive habitats and species at risk, document impacts from existing foreshore developments and the rate of change over time, and develop site specific Foreshore Development Guidelines to help guide future lake foreshore developments while sustaining healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems. A Foreshore Habitat Sensitivity Index (FHSI) was developed for each lake based on a quantitative analysis of habitat data and their sensitivity to anthropogenic developments.