Protecting Prospect Lake

Prospect Lake is a public and community asset, not simply a residential lake.

Saanich provides four public lake-access locations and three parks. With the future addition of the 2.66-acre Girardau waterfront property, approximately one-quarter of the shoreline will be municipal park frontage.

The lake supports swimming, paddling, boating, fishing and wildlife habitat. It is regularly stocked for a public recreational fishery by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and is home to Power To Be’s 80+ acre campus, which supported 4,500 client and participant visits in 2025.

Protecting Prospect Lake protects public access and recreation, municipal parkland, wildlife and habitat, community programming, and public, private and community investment.

PLPS is in Year 3 of EWM mapping, water-quality monitoring, laboratory testing, scientific review and advice, community engagement and lake-management planning. Residents have contributed substantial professional expertise, volunteer time and funding to support this work.

In 2025, PLPS completed a drone survey to document aquatic vegetation from the air. In August 2026, that work was expanded through a 148-point lake-wide survey of aquatic plants, combining drone orthographic mapping with field rake sampling and providing a stronger baseline for future monitoring and management.

Over the past 18 months, PLPS has held seven public community meetings to discuss lake conditions, scientific findings and possible management approaches, with 50–125 participants attending individual meetings.

PLPS is pursuing the provincial regulatory process required for EWM management while developing a 25-year adaptive-management framework based on continued monitoring, defined thresholds, periodic reassessment and evidence-based decisions as conditions change.

That community foundation creates an opportunity for long-term cooperation among the community, Saanich, the Province, First Nations and other partners. Protecting a shared public and community asset over the long term will require durable partnerships, additional resources and continuity.