Quamichan Stewards

The Quamichan Watershed Stewardship Society (Quamichan Stewards) was formed in the spring of 2006 to respond to the continuously declining health of Quamichan Lake. After two years of initial research and investigation it was able to move forward to prepare a Watershed Management Plan.

With nearly $50,000 from the federal EcoAction Community Funding Program, $10,000 funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation and substantial in-kind and cash donations from the community, the Management Plan takes the whole Quamichan Watershed into consideration and provides a blueprint for restoring the lake to health. The plan was developed in partnership with all of the stakeholders, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the B.C. Ministries of Environment and Agriculture, the Municipality of North Cowichan, local farmers, and residents of the watershed.

In May of 2010 the Quamichan Stewards received a new grant from the federal Environment Canada EcoAction Community Funding Program to begin implementing the Management Plan.

To kick this off, the Quamichan Stewards co-hosted the BC Lake Stewardship Society's 2010 Community Forum. This was made possible with the addition of other funding from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, Nature Trust, Pacific Salmon Foundation and Sea Spring Salmon Farm.

This event was a huge success and drew in over 400 people!

Other projects completed as part of this grant included:

• Developing the Quamichan Watershed Public Access Strategy to increase the visibility of the Quamichan Watershed and promote recreation and educational activities.
• Reducing non-source nutrient input from land and water activities in the Quamichan Watershed by promoting septic field education through the creation of the Septic Sense brochure, working with The District of North Cowichan to lead conversions from septic to sewer, and identifying the feasibility of building rain ponds (wetlands) near streams that flow into Quamichan Lake.
• Protecting native plant species by removing invasive species from around Quamichan Lake.
• Hosting a fishing derby to use and promote the watershed as a venue for recreation, education and wildlife events.

The Quamichan Watershed Management Plan, final version, October 2009. 86% of Quamichan Watershed residents who completed the survey support the Vision for the Watershed and 90% agree with the Plan!

And just available in December 2009 is the Duncan Cairnsmore Air Quality Monitoring Site.

Click on the map to find the Duncan site; click on it to drill down and see the contaminant parameters; and click on the specific parameters to see the recent history graph.

If you have questions, comments, or want to volunteer, please email Per Dahlstrom, President of Quamichan Stewards, at <pdahlstrom@gmail.com> or Stephanie Cottell, Executive Director fo the Cowichan Land Trust at <stephanie@cowichanlandtrust.ca>