District of Squamish is in the process of forming another group for estuary management as the previous committee on the issue stopped working, even though it was never formally disbanded.
The Squamish Estuary Management Committee was formed in the 80s with district, provincial and federal members and local environmental organisations.
Its purpose was to guide land and water uses in the Squamish Estuary by balancing government, industry and private interests, and to administer the Squamish Estuary Management Plan.
The estuary plan was drafted in 1979 by the province in partnership with the federal Fisheries and Oceans Canada, to strike a balance between protecting the estuary’s biological productivity and achieving its economic potential.
Over the years, the plan hasn’t been updated and the committee is almost defunct now, with little participation from different agencies that first came to form it.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Environment Canada as well as the province told the district they no longer had resources to remain involved with the committee.
In a 2018, council passed a motion to explore plans to update the Squamish Estuary Management Plan, and to determine the scope and mandate for a collaborative cross-sector, intergovernmental marine coordinating or advisory body or working group.
Now, two years later, a senior district official has indicated that district is in the process of creating such a group, adding that the district has tried its best to move all relevant regulatory materials from the SEMP to the Official Community Plan.
“We are in the process of reforming another group to take its place,” said Gary Buxton, Gary Buxton, General Manager of Community Planning and Infrastructure.
“In terms of enforcement, it could be conducted by any level of government, but principally through the province who look after the Wildlife Management Area, but may also be DFO for fish or another federal department for migratory birds, or the District in limited instances, e.g. people camping on the Spit Road,” he said.
