About Us
The Agence des bassins versants de Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs (ABVLACS) is a community-based non-profit organization.
Our mission
Our mission is to ensure the preservation and the improvement of water quality in our regional watersheds from a sustainable development perspective.
Our main goals are to:
- Develop and implement an action plan, in partnership with the water stakeholders, to improve and protect the water quality of the watersheds
- Gain the necessary knowledge and data to provide a detailed picture of the watersheds
- Initiate, support or coordinate, with the relevant stakeholders, the carrying out of projects aiming to protect, preserve and improve the health of the water and the watershed’s ecosystems
- Heighten awareness of and disseminate knowledge to shoreline and non-shoreline residents about the protection of water quality and the use of environmentally friendly practices in order to implement practices that are more in harmony with nature
Our History
The Agence des bassins versants de Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs (ABVLacs) was founded in 2007 under the name COEGSAM (Conseil de gestion des lacs Saint-Amour et Marois, literally “Lac Saint-Amour and Lac Marois Management Board”) to address the proliferation of blue-green algae that were rampant at that time in the water in Lac Saint-Amour and Lac Marois as well as in many lakes in Quebec. Its founder, Gilles Pilon, is an engineer by training who had a master’s in civil engineering and an MBA and a retired manager. He is a lakeshore resident of Lac Saint-Amour in Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs. Mr. Pilon and many collaborators worked very hard to establish COGESAM, which became the Agence des bassins versants de Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs (ABVLacs) in 2008. At the time, it had 175 members in a municipality that had a little more than 3,000 people.
At that time, the assessment of the lakes’ condition, the acquisition of knowledge, the dissemination of information and the preparing of an action plan were at the heart of their action to address the causes of the outbreak of the blue-green algae and to encourage residents and water stakeholders to implement practices that could prevent new outbreaks in the future.
Board of Directors
Our organization relies on a 15-member board of directors made up of:
- 11 people from the five watersheds that make up Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs
- Two people from outside these watersheds
- Two people representing the municipality, from the municipal council and the Environment Department, respectively
Members and Volunteers
ABVLacs had a total of 122 members in 2019. The organization also relies on a team of about 20 lake heads.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of members is usually held in May or June, i.e. just before the beginning of the organization’s main summer activities.
Funding
ABVLacs funds its activities and operations through member dues and donations, through government grants that it applies for from government agencies and some of its partner organizations.
Partner Organizations
o Abrinord – Organisme de bassin versant de la Rivière du Nord
Abrinord’s mission is to act, in consultation with various community stakeholders, on the implementation, the application and the development of integrated water management of the water in the watersheds of the area with which it has been entrusted. Abrinord’s integrated water management area is entirely within the Laurentians region and covers almost 2,296.6 km2.
The integrated water management area extends from Saint-Donat in the north to the Ottawa River to the south and includes, in whole or in part, 38 municipalities and an Indian reserve in seven regional county municipalities (RCMs).
o CRE Laurentides – Le Conseil régional de l’environnement des Laurentides
The mission of CRE Laurentides (the Laurentians’ Regional Environmental Council) is to promote sustainable development, to protect and enhance the environment as well as to contribute to improving the democratic process. The geographic area of CRE Laurentides is the administrative region of Les Laurentides, which contains eight regional county municipalities (RCMs) and 83 municipalities, including Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs.
o Municipalité de Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs
Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs is a municipality in the Laurentides region and is part of the regional county municipality (RCM) of Les Pays-d’en-Haut. The municipality has an area of 24 km2 and has more than 37 lakes and bodies of water that cover more than one hectare. In 2019, its population reached 4,654 people. The municipality of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs is our major partner. Two people representing the municipality, from the municipal council and the Environment Department, respectively, sit on our board of directors.
o Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) des Pays-d’en-Haut
The RCM of Les Pays-d’en-Haut is located in the heart of the tourism region of Les Laurentides. Its mission is to be a unifying and collaborative regional government that promotes dialogue between the 10 municipalities of which it consists. With its warden elected by universal suffrage, it provides regional leadership by developing the necessary tools to bring together the driving forces and express their regional needs to higher orders of government. In 2019, it had a population of 43,455 people.
Constitution and By-Laws
The new constitution and by-laws of ABVLacs were adopted by the Board of Directors on February 18, 2014. They were ratified by the general meeting of members on May 10, 2014. The new constitution and by-laws of ABVLacs can be found here.