About Us

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.

Articles

Meeting on Saturday, June 3 2023

On June 3rd, the annual meeting of ABVLACS took place, which marked the start of the summer 2023 activities. Many of you were there and we appreciate that. If you were unable to attend the meeting on Saturday, June 3, you can view the PowerPoint presentations here:...

ABVLacs Brief Projet Eau pour tous

We are pleased to share with you the brief we submitted to the municipality as part of the consultation on “le projet de politique d’accès à l’eau”. Consult the brief (in French only) This document outlines the main concerns and suggestions made by...

Presentations June 04, 2022

You could not attend the conference on Saturday June 4? Here are the links to the presentations including the presentations of Mr. John Dalzell, president of ABVLacs, Maxime Bélanger, liaison officer for CRE Laurentides, Mathieu Langlois, director of the Environmental...

Eurasian water-milfoil education session: Access to the documents

Here is the documentation and video presentation by Jani Boyer Information on boat cleaning (in french only): Depliant-nettoyage-embarcations Document accompanying the video presentation (in french only) : Formation des Sentinelles Link to the video presentation (in...

Conference and presentations June 05, 2021

Last Saturday, ABVLacs was proud to present a talk by Mathieu Madison, President, ABRINORD on the topic of “The health of our lakes and waterways: Why should we care?” For those who had the chance to attend, we would like to receive your feedback. Send your comments...

SAVING QUEBEC’S LAKES

ABVLacs  supports "le programme national de gestion du myriophylle- a-épi" (Videos available in French only) https://rappel.qc.ca/alliance-pour-la-gestion-du-myriophylle/

National Volunteer Week

A huge THANK YOU to all our volunteers.  Because of your generosity and your commitment, you help keep our lakes healthy.

Eurasian Water-Milfoil: l’envahisseur marin

In aquariums, Eurasian water-milfoil can be used as decorative vegetation. But when it ends up in our waterways, slowing its spread is no small feat! This exotic plant suffocates our lakes and rivers in which it proliferates, and it does so at high speed. It is found...

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Lake assesments

Lac Cupidon

 The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it:  https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs   Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte)...

Lac Johanne

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

Lac des Frères Côme-Lalande

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

Lac Pelletier

L’Atlas des Lacs contient tous les documents, photos, cartes et rapports, se rapportant à votre lac. Voici comment y accéder : https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Inscrivez le numéro qui identifie votre lac dans l’espace prévu à cet effet (carte)...

Lac Paquette

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

Lac Suzanne

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

Lac Parent

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

Lac Colette

The Atlas of Lakes contains all documents, photos, maps and reports relating to your lake. Here's how to access it: https://crelaurentides.org/dossiers/eau-lacs/atlasdeslacs Enter the number that identifies your lake in the space provided for this purpose (carte) and...

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The Association

ABVLacs Brief Projet Eau pour tous

We are pleased to share with you the brief we submitted to the municipality as part of the consultation on “le projet de politique d’accès à l’eau”. Consult the brief (in French only) This document outlines the main concerns and suggestions made by...

Members of the Board of Directors 2021-2022

Marois watershed Position 1 : Jeannie Kavanaugh Position 2 : Samuel Shapiro Position 3 : [vacant position] Position 4 : John (Sean) Dalzell, president Ouimet watershed Position 5 : Jean-Pierre Dupont, secretary-treasurer Position 6 : Ghislaine Van Berkom Castor et...

Achievements and Future Plans

Achievements As part of the Government of Quebec’s Volunteer Lake-Monitoring Program (VLMP), our network of volunteers carry out sample collections in order to assess the health of the lakes. Update of the health records for the lakes in Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs Update of...

What is a Watershed?

It’s the funnel principle; i.e. the area draining naturally to a water stream, a lake or an artificial basin. The International Organization for Standardization defines the equivalent term “catchment area” as “the area draining naturally to a water course or to a...

Annual General Meeting

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.

Archives

The minutes of previous meetings since 2016 are available under the “archives” heading. The minutes of each annual general meeting are approved at the next year’s AGM and are not available until they are ratified by the organization’s members.

Membership

Water, a Collective Heritage to Be Protected Are you age 18 or older? Do you like your lake? Do you care about the impact your actions have on soils and vegetation? Do you believe that water management is everyone’s responsibility? Then become a member of ABVLACS! You...

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