Creeks and Streams
Several provincial and federal regulations and acts, as well as local bylaws, exist to protect watercourses, fish and wildlife species, and riparian habitat. For more information on conducting works in and around a watercourse (such as channel maintenance, culvert works, and vegetation removal), see our Instream Works Guide for more information.
The Township of Langley is home to over 700km of rivers, creeks, and streams and approximately 900km of agricultural and roadside watercourses. This extensive network of watercourses is home to resident fish populations and offers natural habitat for a multitude of birds and other wildlife. Keeping our watercourses clean and their riparian vegetation areas healthy is essential. Everyone can play a part in this by disposing of garbage and household hazardous waste properly, keeping pollutants out of ditches, storm drains, streams, and respecting riparian vegetation in and around them.
The Watercourse Protection Bylaw prohibits any substances that could be deleterious to fish being released to a watercourse including a storm drain, ditch, pond or wetland. It also prohibits the obstruction of a watercourse, except with senior government authorization. In watersheds with significant areas that have been or will be developed, Integrated Stormwater Management Plans are completed to identify ways to maintain and promote the health of creeks and streams.
The Township has completed, and continues to update, a comprehensive Watercourse Classification Map that categorizes the surface drainage network in the municipality according to fish habitat values. The Township has incorporated language in its Official Community Plan (34MB), which provides protection to riparian habitats and watercourses during development through permits and regulations. For more information on streamside protection or the watercourse map, please contact the Township of Langley at streamsideinfo@tol.ca
For more information on the ecological diversity of our waterways, and your role in preservation, please visit our partner, the Langley Environmental Partners Society.
To report a spill or suspected contamination of a stream, please contact Engineering at 64-533-6006 or the Provincial Spill Hotline at 1-800-663-3456. Helpful information to include is a photo, closest address, and day/time when observed.
For complaints related to potential death of fish or alteration to fish habitat, please report to Department of Fisheries by email at DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or by phone at 1-800-465-4336.
For suspected authorized works in or around a stream, habitat destruction, or wildlife complaints, please report to Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) at 1-877-952-7277