Tweed Sands Lake occupies a significant part of the Tweed Sands Plant property and is a major asset to the site. Much of the biodiversity benefits provided by the lake are associated with the riparian vegetation that borders the lake. This has been previously acknowledged and targeted for management. In order to monitor the progress of previous management actions, and to help direct future management, I will do vegetation surveys to assess current condition and make comparisons to relevant benchmarks of condition. Existing condition benchmarks as part of the BIOMETRIC assessment procedure are useful for this, but are low resolution, and in many aspects insufficient for making detailed comparisons to existing vegetation. In order to develop a more appropriate and relevant benchmark, assessments of high quality existing vegetation in the vicinity of the target site will be surveyed using the same method as the quarry surveys.

Along with discussions and reference to both previous management and future resources, this project will evaluate the riparian vegetation condition of Tweed Sands Lake, produce vegetation and condition maps, and develop a detailed and relevant future management plan.