- Saanich Legacy Foundation
- Community • Saanich, BC
There is only one major lake left in the Saanich region that has never been shut down due to toxic blue-green algae. That lake is Prospect Lake — and keeping it that way takes real, sustained effort from people who care deeply about this community.
The Prospect Lake Preservation Society (PLPS) is a registered not-for-profit doing exactly that work. As a Community Partner of the Saanich Legacy Foundation, they are protecting one of our region’s most cherished natural spaces — not just for the people who live near it today, but for every generation that comes after.
What Is the Prospect Lake Preservation Society?
The Prospect Lake Preservation Society is a community-led, not-for-profit organization incorporated under the British Columbia Societies Act. Their mission is straightforward: protect the long-term health and recreational quality of Prospect Lake so that residents and the broader public can enjoy it for generations to come.
What makes their work so important is what they are up against. Toxic cyanobacteria — commonly known as blue-green algae — has triggered health warnings and closures at lakes across the region. Prospect Lake has avoided that fate, but that outcome is not accidental. It is the direct result of ongoing monitoring, scientific research, and community stewardship carried out by PLPS and the people who support them.
What They Do to Protect the Lake
Scientific monitoring and research
PLPS funds and coordinates ongoing scientific studies of Prospect Lake’s water health. Understanding what is happening below the surface nutrient levels, algae growth, water quality trends is what allows the community to act before problems become crises. This kind of proactive monitoring is what separates Prospect Lake from the others.
PLPS funds and coordinates ongoing scientific studies of Prospect Lake’s water health. Understanding what is happening below the surface nutrient levels, algae growth, water quality trends is what allows the community to act before problems become crises. This kind of proactive monitoring is what separates Prospect Lake from the others.
Conservation and environmental protection
Beyond research, PLPS runs active conservation and environmental protection programs aimed at preserving the lake’s natural ecosystem. These efforts address the conditions that allow harmful algae to take hold in the first place — reducing runoff, protecting shoreline habitat, and maintaining the ecological balance that keeps the water clean and safe.
Beyond research, PLPS runs active conservation and environmental protection programs aimed at preserving the lake’s natural ecosystem. These efforts address the conditions that allow harmful algae to take hold in the first place — reducing runoff, protecting shoreline habitat, and maintaining the ecological balance that keeps the water clean and safe.
Community education and engagement
PLPS believes that long-term preservation only works if the community understands why it matters. Their education and engagement initiatives help residents, local families, and visitors connect with the lake —and understand the role each of them plays in keeping it healthy. A community that understands the lake is a community that protects it.
PLPS believes that long-term preservation only works if the community understands why it matters. Their education and engagement initiatives help residents, local families, and visitors connect with the lake —and understand the role each of them plays in keeping it healthy. A community that understands the lake is a community that protects it.
Long-term stewardship across generations
The Society was established specifically to ensure a long-term community presence around the lake. Their work is designed to span generations — not just responding to today’s threats, but building the infrastructure, knowledge, and community commitment needed to protect Prospect Lake decades into the future.
The Society was established specifically to ensure a long-term community presence around the lake. Their work is designed to span generations — not just responding to today’s threats, but building the infrastructure, knowledge, and community commitment needed to protect Prospect Lake decades into the future.
Help protect one of Saanich’s last
clean lakes
Your donation funds scientific monitoring, conservation, and community education.
Why Prospect Lake Matters to Greater Saanich
Prospect Lake is not just a pretty place to walk by. It is a functioning natural ecosystem, a recreational resource, and a source of genuine community pride. It is the kind of place that makes Saanich worth living in.
The fact that it remains clean and open to the public — while other lakes in the region have faced repeated closures — is a testament to what organized, committed community stewardship can accomplish. But that status is never permanent. Without continued investment in monitoring, conservation, and education, the lake is vulnerable to the same pressures affecting waterways across BC.
The Saanich Legacy Foundation is proud to support the Prospect Lake Preservation Society through our Community Partnership model, which provides secure donation management, tax-receipted charitable giving, and fundraising infrastructure so that PLPS can stay focused on the lake.
How You Can Help Protect Prospect Lake
If you value clean water, accessible natural spaces, and community-driven environmental stewardship, this is a cause worth supporting.
Learn more about the Prospect Lake Preservation Society at prospectlake.net, or donate directly through the Saanich Legacy Foundation to help fund scientific monitoring, conservation programs, and the community education initiatives that keep this lake healthy and open to everyone.
Make a tax-receipted donation today
Managed securely through the Saanich Legacy Foundation. Every dollar
goes directly toward protecting Prospect Lake
goes directly toward protecting Prospect Lake