The Alberta Lake Management Society (ALMS) was formally established on November 1991 and was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization under the Societies Act of Alberta in December 1991. In 1992, ALMS became the first Canadian Chapter of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS). In October of 2001, the Government of Canada granted ALMS its “Charitable Organization” status. ALMS and its members are active in providing a link to individuals, local communities, educational institutions, governments and industry across Alberta who are interested in lake and watershed management.
Purpose:
The purpose of the Society is to promote understanding and comprehensive management of lakes and reservoirs and their watersheds.
ALMS will undertake the collection of data and information to increase the knowledge of lake functions and management options, and will disseminate information and experiences of all aspects of lake management in Alberta.
ALMS strives to:
- Educate and increase the public’s understanding of the importance of lakes and their watersheds by:
-
- offering courses, seminars, conferences and meetings;
- collecting and disseminating information about lakes and lake management;
- providing occasional scholarships and bursaries for educational purposes which foster research or the advancement of knowledge in aquatic sciences.
- Participate in the development of local, provincial and national programs that promote lake and watershed management and/or encourage the protection of lakes and watersheds.
- Provide expertise to and collaborate with other organizations, agencies and individuals concerned with lakes and lake and watershed conservation and improvement.
ALMS Bylaws:
ALMS Guiding Statements:
1.0 Vision Statement
Albertans enjoying the benefits of healthy lake and aquatic environments, with an understanding of the responsibilities needed to achieve this vision. Albertans appreciate and work within an ecological framework to ensure a sustainable future for healthy lake and aquatic ecosystems.
2.0 Belief Statement
Healthy lake ecosystems are beneficial for all Albertans. Human use and development are currently influencing Alberta’s aquatic ecosystems in ways that may not support healthy lake and aquatic ecosystems. ALMS, in collaboration with government and other organizations, exists to promote the sustainability of healthy lake and aquatic ecosystems within an ecological framework.
3.0 Mission Statement
ALMS strives to build understanding and awareness among Albertans for responsible management of aquatic ecosystems through programs, partnerships, and information sharing.
4.0 Aim Statement
ALMS aims to provide resources and expertise that supports Albertans in developing and ensuring sustainable healthy lake and aquatic ecosystems. We will achieve this within an ecological framework that values the natural capital of our lake and aquatic ecosystems and balances the needs of society by assisting with planning, public education, engagement, partnership, and collaboration.
5.0 Target Statement
ALMS targets all who benefit from healthy lake and aquatic ecosystems. Our programs and resources focus on lake stewardship groups, lake users, schools, local government, and industry.
The members of the steering committee will continue to play a strong role in facilitating and tracking implementation actions. This includes any actions they were responsible for, as well as tracking other committees and sector’s actions and progress made towards achieving the plan’s outcomes. Ongoing communication is essential to successful implementation and achieving outcomes, therefore a regular reporting mechanism could be set up in order to provide regular evaluation of the plan.
Reporting is an essential component of any watershed management planning and implementation process. There are two main types of reporting that should be shared with stakeholders on a regular basis: implementation reporting & effectiveness reporting.
There is no limit to the number or types of lake management actions, but they typically fall into the categories on the right.
Helpful resources
The development of a lake watershed management plan provides the guidance needed to implement activities, but the plan cannot be static. Monitoring the performance of your management actions is essential to understanding whether your goals have been met, and whether further actions are needed. Monitoring and evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of a lake watershed management plan allows assessment of progress towards the goals and objectives of the plan, identification of problems and opportunities, and a collection of critical information required when performing a 5 or 10 year review of the plan.
What has the monitoring results of the plan and of the indicators shown? Is there a need to modify the plan? It is important that the lake watershed management plan does not just sit on a shelf. Information gaps should be addressed, action items need to be managed, completed, and evaluated to best address the needs of the lake. Always keep in mind the vision: if the actions taken are not bringing the lake closer to that vision, then the plan needs to be modified. Consider updating both the state of the watershed and the lake watershed management plans at regular intervals to make sure that the actions taken were achieving the desired outcomes and to evaluate what work still needs to be done.
Once a plan has been approved by all affected sectors and officially endorsed and released by the steering committee, then implementation can begin in full. Action projects can be large and comprehensive, or made smaller by staging projects over time or into modules that can be tackled one at a time. Fundraising is an issue that many community groups may find intimidating, but experience with programs such as the Pine Lake Restoration Program (see 
This graphic describes how the various committees and groups will work and interact together. The circle size depicts the approximate number of people involved, and the circles overlapping indicates that some individuals may reside in all of the circles and participate in multiple committees as part of the planning process. The technical committee is shown as an arrow, indicating that it is independent and has relatively few people, and yet it interacts with all of the groups. This graphic may look different depending on the lake and the people involved, and a detailed structure should be agreed upon and described in the plan’s Terms of Reference (Step 6).