Environmental Mapping & Information Management

The objective of the Environmental Mapping program is to act as an information resource to assist decision makers and stakeholders at various scales with sustainable development design, conservation initiatives, hazard management, and ecological mitigation design options. It is designed to help guide stakeholders through the development process with useful background information on where and what the potential environmental constraints and opportunities are at different planning scales including the site, neighbourhood, watershed and municipal level.

An Open House on Draft ESA Mapping (PDF) was held on December 11, 2008. The following reports are available for viewing which were presented to Council on October 20, 2008 (PDF) and March 2, 2009 (PDF). At the March 2, 2009 workshop, Council passed the following resolutions:
  1. That the ESA Mapping Strategy Open House Report dated February, 2009 be received as information; and
  2. That staff proceed to develop a draft Management Plan for Council's consideration.

Watercourse Protection, Mapping and Classification

In anticipation of the need for more comprehensive stream mapping, under the Local Government Act and Section 12 of the new Fish Protection Act, Maple Ridge initiated a stream mapping project in partnership with the senior agencies and local stewardship community in Maple Ridge. In 2005 Maple Ridge endorsed the resolution to adopt the Stream Protection Regulation Guidelines and the Watercourse Setback Classification Mapping project.

This project:
  • formed an integral part of the strategy to bring the policies and procedures in line with the new Fish Protection Act;
  • established the collection protocol for future inventory initiatives ensuring the integrity and compatibility of future inventory projects; and
  • established the G.I.S. query and analysis tools for future watercourse sensitivity classification.
This methodology and the Stream Protection Regulation (SPR) were endorsed by Council and Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2004; more details are provided in the links below:

Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping

Erosion and Sediment Control