Environmental Enhancement and Restoration

The Longlands development plan will include limited course layout and watercourse alterations designed to harmonise with the intent of DFO’s prescriptions in their 1996 guidebook “Greening Your BC Golf Course – A Guide to Environmental Management”. These alterations will enhance and/or create aquatic habitat, assist with stormwater treatment and dispersal, and minimise future costs associated with golf course maintenance, and will include the following:

• Two entire holes will be relocated from a low spot at the southwest corner of the golf course, which experiences persistently very soft playing conditions following modest rainfall events, to the drier northwest corner of the course that presently contains an even-aged tree stand with lower value habitat characteristics;
• A large, new constructed wetland will be created in place of the two relocated holes that will have a surface area of 3,300 m2. This wetland will function as an emergency stormwater detention pond and water quality polishing facility, and will provide shelter and breeding opportunities for amphibians and birds;
• Roughly 1500m of existing, degraded middle and lower reaches of the Longlands Creek mainstem will be restored through a combination of stream complexing and the strategic addition of coarse woody debris. These actions will improve stream bank stability, redistribute stream energy, aerate its contained waters, provide organic input for nutrient cycling and soil development, create stable, year-round habitat and cover for fish and amphibians, and greatly enhance golf course aesthetics;
• The lowermost creek section will be diverted west into existing treed (future parkland) areas southwest of the course. This diversion will provide thermal protection and soil moisture regulation during the summer, and year-round flow to the existing ephemeral wetland complex and new ponds that will be created in this area. This enhancement will result in over 55% more fish-bearing stream length on the site;
• The layouts of tees and greens adjacent to the Longlands Creek mainstem will be modified to ensure that adequate horizontal setbacks are in place to assure habitat protection, and that Longlands Creek and its riparian zones continue to function as wildlife corridors; and
• Educational signage will be posted throughout the course in areas proximal to streams, wetlands, or other sensitive features to inform golfers of the nature and function of each natural or man-made features, provide quality wildlife viewing opportunities, and remind them of their sensitivity to golfing-related disturbances and pollution.