Wednesday, March 11, 2026
The Vancouver Park Board has endorsed future exploratory work to reconnect Lost Lagoon at Stanley Park in Vancouver with Coal Harbour and Second Beach in order to improve its ecological health.
After a century of infilling, Lost Lagoon has experienced a growing bloom of algae, worsening water quality and harming its aquatic and plant life, a Vancouver Park Board release said. A survey in 2018 revealed that most of the lagoon is now less than one metre deep.
“Each year, Lost Lagoon welcomes thousands of visitors who come to enjoy the area’s serene beauty and ecological significance. But with algae blooms and fish die-off becoming an increasingly regular occurrence, it’s important we act now and explore long-term solutions for the area’s ecological health. This work won’t happen overnight, and there are important conversations still to be had, but this is an exciting next step in the Park Board’s commitment to restoring nature to this part of the city,” Park Board chair Tom Digby said.
Park Board staff have explored options to reconnect Lost Lagoon through a smaller channel, the release said, in order to restore it as a tidal ecosystem. With new culverts linking the lagoon to Coal Harbour, this would see daily tidal flushing to improve water depth and quality.
Early design concepts show new features such as creation of approximately 140,000m² of restored tidal lagoon habitat and 2,000m of shoreline, removal of the lagoon’s existing concrete edges and reuse of dredged material to form more dynamic natural landscapes and intertidal habitats and potential viewing opportunities at low tide.
Following the Board’s endorsement of the Lost Lagoon tidal reconnection concept, staff will begin engaging with potential funding partners and regulatory agencies, the release said. The project is not currently funded and staff are exploring potential funding streams.
