Brydon Lagoon Update

Last week, I posted about Brydon Lagoon in the Nicomekl Floodplain. The lagoon is a popular location for both people and waterfowl, but due to limited investment in its upkeep, the lagoon is rapidly deteriorating. This came to light this summer as a resulted of a massive fish kill in the lagoon.

The City of Langley has known for some time that investment is needed to ensure the long-term viability of Brydon Lagoon. They even commissioned a study by Dillon Consulting. The consultants made some recommendations about what could be done to prevent the further deterioration of the lagoon.

As I mentioned last week, many citizens and community groups expressed their concerns about the state of Brydon Lagoon at the last Parks and Environment Advisory Committee (PEAC) meeting. Many even questioned the recommendation in the Dillon report.

The Parks and Environment Advisory Committee had two concerns. The first concern was that investing in the long-term success of Brydon Lagoon didn’t seem to be a council priority. The second concern was that people at our last meeting, several whom are biologist, questioned the recommendation made in the Dillion report.

To find a way forward, we passed the following motion.

THAT the Parks & Environment Advisory Committee form a task group with select members from the Langley Field Naturalists, the Langley Environmental Partners Society, the Nicomekl Enhancement Society, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and City staff to review the original Dillon Pond Management Study and collect concerns to provide feedback to the committee

The committee’s hope was to be able to present a cost-out action plan to City Council in a timely fashion.

This motion came before City Council on Monday night. Council in general seemed concerned about the state of Brydon Lagoon, but seemed more concerned about how much it would cost to restore. The motion that we passed at the PEAC meeting earlier this month was defeated in a tie. In its place, a new motion was passed.

This new motion appears to require the PEAC taskforce to submit a terms of reference to City Council before getting to the business of developing an action plan for Brydon Lagoon. I will get more clarification at the next PEAC meeting in a few weeks’ time. Hopefully this doesn’t cause major delays in getting an action plan together for City Council.

While there are more projects than money available for the City of Langley to complete, Brydon Lagoon is an important assets to the community. Preserving Brydon Lagoon should be a priority for Langley City Council.