A big part of revitalizing a stewardship group was to bring people together to develop a comprehensive Watershed Management Plan for Baptiste and Island Lakes.
Objective: Engage governments, industry, and residents to increase awareness of factors that affect Baptiste and Island lakes and watersheds. Protect and enhance the lakes and their watersheds for the long term health of Island and Baptiste Lakes.
Progress to date: Successfully completed May of 2019! Congrats to all who was part of this important initiative!
“On behalf of the BAILS Board of Directors, we would like to thank a number of agencies and individuals for supporting this initiative. First, we would like to acknowledge Alberta Community Partnership for a $25,000 Inter-municipal Collaboration Grant to undertake this work. We also greatly appreciate the time and dedication of members of the Steering and Technical Committees and their supporting organizations.
We note that, over the last several decades, there have been a number of studies and monitoring initiatives carried out on both Baptiste and Island lakes by academia, government and non-government agencies. Our work builds on those that came before us. More recently, we are grateful to the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (Breda Muldoon, Dave Trew and Petra Rowell) for their guidance, technical and secretariat support.
Finally, we thank all the individuals who attended outreach events, reviewed drafts, conducted additional research or analysis, collected samples, cooked hotdogs or otherwise lent a hand. As the saying goes, it takes a village!” (BAILS WMP, May 2019)
August 21, 2022 Update:
Stay tuned for updates on future initiatives & potential action plans/strategies following our continued collaborative efforts with provincial and municipal decision-makers; lake, Indigenous and other communities; landowners, lake users, industry and others who can use the WMP plan to make informed decisions and to encourage stewardship actions that support the health of the Baptiste and Island Lakes watersheds. Thank you!
~ Bails Board of Directors
Spring 2024 Update:
As highlighted at the BAILS AGM in the summer of 2023 - BAILS Board of Directors’ look forward to continuing to engage with BAILS members, lake property owners, municipalities, AEP and all users of the lakes on BAILS watershed management strategies, best lake stewardship practices, and so much more as we continue to move forward with revisiting watershed management strategies woven within the BAILS Watershed Management Plan.
Thank YOU for your participation at past events. We look forward to seeing you at future events
~ Bails Board of Directors