Love Your Lakes: Personalized Shoreline Assessments and Restoration Demonstration Sites

Southern Interior Land Trust in Partnership with Watersheds Canada & Canadian Wildlife Federation

The Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) has, for over 30 years, worked to secure those gems and jewels of fish and wildlife habitat that act as “stepping-stones” for animal movement between larger conservation areas. SILT owns four conservation properties and has contributed to the purchase of many more. Natural shorelines, with their ribbon of native trees, shrubs, grasses and herbs benefit wildlife; protect properties from flood and erosion; and support ecological processes essential to clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable water. With the current extent of lakeshore modification and development in the South Okanagan, the ecological function of our shorelines is clearly threatened.

This project continues in year 3, with the Love Your Lake Program, delivered for the first time in British Columbia. This year on Tuc-el-nuit Lake in Oliver, lakeshore landowners will be provided with a free, personalized and private evaluation of their shoreline, with specific actions for how to voluntarily protect and re-naturalize the shoreline and still maintain their waterfront view.

The goal is to maintain ecological functions provided by shorelines by increasing landowner understanding of how they influence water quality and wildlife; by identifying and prescribing opportunities for protecting and enhancing shoreline habitats and; by inspiring and achieving landowner action to restore and protect their shoreline while maintaining, and perhaps enhancing, their property values and views. Many shoreline landowners have an interest in protecting water quality and wildlife yet may not know that their shoreline actions are negatively affecting these values.

This project was approved for a third and final year by the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Board and $ 30,487 was allocated from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund in 2021. The project is expected to complete by January 31, 2022.