Living Lakes Canada finished a survey into the health of Francois Lake’s shoreline.
The project was announced in July last year after a 15-year update survey was performed at Fraser Lake.
“The survey revealed about 83 per cent, about 221 kilometres, of the shoreline remains in a natural condition,” said Program Manager Georgia Peck.
She added it means most of the shoreline has been undisturbed by human or climate impact.
The other 17 per cent was considered disturbed, including by commercial, transportation, and/or residential development.
“We also found that about 10 per cent of the lake was in a very high ecological rank which is really good,” said Peck.
She added compared to areas like the Columbia or Okanagan basin, Francois Lake had a high percentage of natural shoreline.
One reason for why was a difference in land-owner ethics according to Peck, with owners around Francois Lake keeping their properties more natural.
A lake-wide development permit area was one of the recommendations Living Lakes Canada made to help standardize development rules on the shoreline.
Others include a 30 metre riparian setback, adding conservation designation to high value habitat, removing unpermitted crown land encroachment, and replacing hard shoreline armouring.
“One that comes up very often is developing an integrated watershed management plan,” said Peck.
Currently, Stewart Lake and Babine Lake are being looked at for future shoreline surveys with neither expected until 2027 at the earliest.
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