Vancouver Park Board to vote on $30M plan to reconnect Lost Lagoon to the ocean

The Vancouver Park Board is set to vote on a plan that would bring big changes to Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park.

On Monday, the Vancouver Park Board will vote on a staff recommendation to move forward with a plan that would reconnect Lost Lagoon to sea water, restoring the body of water to its natural tidal state.

The lagoon was cut off from the ocean in 1916 for the construction of the Stanley Park Causeway.

“It was separated off to create a recreational water body for people to drive their little boats on. It was really created for the use of humans, not really thinking about the ecosystem, which is how decisions were made back then,” said Park Board chair Laura Christiansen.

For the past 110 years, sediment has been accumulating in the lagoon, leading to decreased water depth and water quality issues.

“We have seen algae blooms, fish die off. So it’s really a very unhealthy ecosystem right now, because it’s not natural,” said Christiansen.

The Park Board chair strongly supports the $30 million plan to reconnect the lagoon to sea water via Second Beach on the west and Coal Harbour on the east.

“I’m really, really excited for the board to actually endorse this,” said Christiansen. “It’s a great opportunity to improve our natural ecosystems in the city, and to bring back habitat that’s been lost for over 100 years.”

She says restoring tidal flow to Lost Lagoon would drastically change the ecosystem.

“The water would come up and down every day. You’d see a lot of creatures that live in that kind of tidal zone,” said Christiansen. “It would provide habitat for a lot more native species.”

Voting in favour of the staff recommendation and approving the reconnection concept is just the first step.

“Part of the direction is to start is to collaborate with these federal and provincial bodies to find funding opportunities, so that we can fund the implementation of this,” said Christiansen, adding the work could happen in the next few years if other levels of government came through with funding.

“We need to find the money before we can make it happen.”