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Cultus Lake Stewards (CLASS)

Cultus Lake paddle

For all who live and play in the Fraser Valley, Cultus Lake is a jewel. The lake needs help to secure its future health.

The Cultus Lake Stewards (CLASS) aim to preserve and protect the health of Cultus Lake and its watershed for the sake of the environment and for future generations. CLASS engages science and traditional knowledge to discover the nature of Cultus, to understand the factors that threaten the lake’s well-being, and to work to mitigate and eliminate those threats. 

The work of CLASS dates back to 2007 when a group of concerned residents and other people came together to look further into the state of fish and wildlife, water temperature, water quality, nutrient loading and aquatic invasive species ― particularly Eurasian watermilfoil and other milfoil species.

FBC staff have since then provided secretariat and networking support to CLASS, including assistance on community outreach and volunteer coordination.

Cultus is a lake under presssure. The science shows that the lake is moving towards cultural eutrophication, and that this disruption of the natural lake balance could have severe consequences for its aquatic inhabitants. To learn more and see educational material from FBC, see Cultus Lake–Addressing Cultural Eutrophication.

CLASS focuses on other issues as well:

  • Water monitoring for turbidity, temperature and oxygen levels, and reporting data to the BC Ministry of Environment
  • Mitigating the impacts of Small Mouth Bass, a species that was illegally introduced in the lake around 2018
  • Mitigating invasive plants, including aquatic Eurasian milfoil

To learn more, visit the CLASS website.

Our Vision

Social well-being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment.

About the Fraser Basin Council

The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is a charitable non-profit organization that brings people together to advance sustainability in the Fraser River Basin and throughout BC. Established in 1997, FBC is a collaboration of four orders of government (federal, provincial, local and First Nations) along with those from the private sector and civil society. We work with people in multiple sectors, helping them find collaborative solutions to today’s issues through a commitment to the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Our focus is on healthy water and watersheds, action on climate change and air quality and strong, resilient communities and regions.

FBC Project and
Partner Sites

Plug in BC:
www.pluginbc.ca

Emotive:
www.emotivebc.ca

ReTooling for Climate Change:
www.retooling.ca

FBC Youth:
fbcyouthprogram.ca

Climate Action Toolkit:
www.toolkit.bc.ca 

Salmon-Safe BC
www.salmonsafe.ca

Contact Us

FBC has offices in Vancouver, Kamloops, Williams Lake and Prince George. We also have staff located in Abbotsford and Vernon.

To reach us, see FBC Offices and FBC Staff.

Our main office is:

Fraser Basin Council
1st Floor, 470 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1V5

T: 604 488-5350
F: 604 488-5351
E: 

We are grateful at the Fraser Basin Council Society to live and work on the unceded ancestral
territories of the Indigenous Nations of British Columbia.