When people talk about what they love about their communities, they talk about its people, and its people-friendly and natural places. The City of Langley has many of the right ingredients to be the jewel of the South of Fraser, but due to limited investment in enhancing people-friendly and natural places, isn’t living up to its full potential. In some case, the City might even be letting some of these ingredients fall by the wayside.
The City of Langley is cut in half by the Nicomekl Floodplain. Not many cities are as fortunate as Langley to have this sort of natural asset in the heart of their community. Someone ask me why enhancing our park system was one of my priorities if I was elected to City Council.
Brydon Lagoon, located in the Floodplain, is a popular location for both people and wildlife thought it has been slowly filling-in over the years. The Langley Field Naturalists have mentioned that over the last 25 years, the depth of Brydon Lagoon been halved.
The Field Naturalist have noted their concerns about Brydon Lagoon for some time; I have a City of Langley memo that shows this has been happening since at least 2000. Unfortunately addressing Brydon Lagoon has not been a top priority for council. With this in mind, it is no surprise that the fish kill happening this summer.
While Brydon Lagoon is a popular destination for both people and waterfowl today, if the City does not invest in the preservation of the Lagoon, only mosquitos with be interested in Brydon Lagoon in the near future.
As I mention in a previous post about the pond, the City of Langley commissioned a study by Dillon Consulting. The consultants made some recommendations about what could be done to prevent the further deterioration of the Lagoon.
Normally we have no members of the public at Park and Environment Advisory Committee meetings. Last Thursday night, the meeting was packed with people concerned about the Lagoon. Many had concerns about the Dillon report recommendations as they believed it would not address the conditions that lead to this summer’s fish kill. Even with the recommendations fully implemented, they believe that further kills could occur due to the shallowness of the Lagoon.
I put forward a motion that was adopted by the committee to form a workgroup with select members from community groups like the Langley Environmental Partners, the Langley Field Naturalists, Ducks Unlimited, plus Langley City staff and Dillon Consulting to find a path forward.
Brydon Lagoon is an important part of the Nicomekl Floodplain Park System, it is a part that I believe needs to be invested in. This is one of the reasons why I’m running for City Council.
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