EC Newsletter: Spring 2024 Updates

Spring 2024 News

Welcome to the newsletter of the Environment Council for Clear, Ston(e)y and White Lakes, a volunteer, member-based, nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and enhancing the sustainability of our local watershed environment for the benefit of future generations of humans and wildlife.

In This Edition:

• It's been a while. Here's what we've been up to

• Healthy Shorelines: A key to lake health and an EC priority

• Time for a shoreline makeover? Here's what's on offer with the Natural Edge program

• What if you could protect your property's natural features in perpetuity?

• Lovesick Lake Trailer Park expansion raises concerns

• Stoney Lake Sprint gives back to the lake

• Septic Re-inspections and tips

Healthy Shorelines and Other EC Priorities

Spring greetings to all our members, lake association contacts, environmental partners, volunteers and friends, both new and long-standing. It’s been some time since we were able to issue a newsletter, but we’ve been very active behind the scenes.

Over the past year and a half, we have focused a tremendous amount of effort on renewing our Environment Council leadership, and our relationships with the lake associations and environmental partner organizations. Through consultation with leaders of our partner organizations and extensive networking, we succeeded in attracting three new members to our executive leadership team. You can get to know them via our website (click here).

We also held a highly productive meeting with the lake association presidents and their environmental representatives on Environment Council. They shared their current top concerns about the lake environment – redevelopment impacts on shorelands, increasing growth of algae and invasive aquatic plants, impacts on water quality of residents’ everyday actions, and climate change impacts. As well, they shared ideas for improving and coordinating education and engagement of lake residents to help address these issues.

As a result of this important input, we’ve sharpened our focus on our own shoreland protection and restoration education programs, and are assisting Kawartha Land Trust and Kawartha Lake Stewards Association to engage lake residents in their conservation and restoration projects.

At the same time, we’re working to keep in closer touch with the lake associations, share information, and coordinate communications on key issues. With the help of volunteers, we’re continuing to carry out dissolved oxygen and water temperature monitoring for the sixth year (both are key indicators of lake health). And we’ll be going back to two of our local Townships again to review the pressing need for shoreline conservation policy, implementation and enforcement.

Please read on to learn more about these projects and upcoming events.

Come Learn How To Give Your Shoreline New Life

Is your waterfront looking a little desolate since the derecho, or would you simply like to make it more natural and attractive? Here’s an easy and enjoyable way to learn about restoring or naturalizing your shoreline. Come on out to Environment Council’s Shoreline Restoration Talk & Tour at Camp Kawartha, Saturday, July 27, at 2 pm.

An environmental specialist will outline what makes a healthy shoreline, how natural and restored shorelines function to help protect lake water quality, and how to get started on your own project. Then you’ll tour the restored sections of the Camp's shoreline to see native shrubs and wildflowers you can use on your waterfront.

Participants must sign up in advance. Please email Lois Wallace, c/o tina.warren@mac.com, and provide full contact information. Group size will be limited, so don’t delay. Camp Kawartha is at 1010 Birchview Road, on the southeast shore of Clear Lake. If you wish to arrive by boat, please note this when you sign up.

It's All Thanks to Volunteers – Would You Like to Join us?

Thanks to all the great volunteers who have helped take care of the shoreline gardens at Camp Kawartha over the past few seasons – Jackie Hodge, Trish Jamieson, Ted McLaren, Brenda Bunker, Wendy Zelsman, Maureen Scott and Rosemary Addison. Thanks also to Susan Ramey and Jacob Rodenburg at the Camp for their continued commitment to this project.

If you’d like to get your hands dirty and meet new gardening buddies, why not join one of our work bees this spring? Contact Lois Wallace (as above).

Natural Edge Shoreline Restoration Program Hits High Gear

Kawartha Lake Stewards Association (KLSA) kicked off the Natural Edge shoreline restoration program on local lakes in record time this spring. A number of plantings and on-site assessments have already been completed, and more are in the works, including five on Clear, Ston(e)y and White Lakes.

Again this year, Environment Council is assisting KLSA by publicizing the program, encouraging more property owners to participate, and helping find planting volunteers. The program provides a simple, inexpensive way for owners to make their waterfronts more attractive and healthier for the lake.

Each participating owner receives an on-site shoreline assessment by an environmental specialist, and works with this specialist to develop a planting plan. The cost is only $250, which covers the site visit and a full-colour report illustrating the planting plan and native plants, soil and mulch to be used. Funds from EcoAction Canada and Watersheds Canada cover the cost of plants and other materials. Volunteers pitch in to help owners with planting. The more owners participate, the better for our lakes! To sign up for this terrific program, or to volunteer, email kim.ong@klsa.info.

Natural Edge

Protecting Natural Areas And The Future Of Your Property

Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) wih support from Environment Council and the Stony Lake Heritage Foundation is continuing to explore the expanded use of Conservation Easement Agreements (CEAs) to help protect our lakes.

Conservation agreements allow interested waterfront owners to legally register protection of natural features on the titles of their properties. Preserving natural shorelines and important wetlands are good examples of why a CEA might be considered, and the agreement is honoured in perpetuity, whether the land is sold or passed down to family members. Such agreements may provide property tax, capital gains tax and estate planning benefits.

With KLT, we look forward to working with the lake community this summer to encourage participation in this exciting program.

Proposed Trailer Park Expansion Sparks Concern

Environment Council and most of the Ston(e)y and Clear Lake associations are rallying to support the Lovesick Lake Association’s opposition to expansion of the trailer park just upstream from Burleigh Falls. They have written to Peterborough County and Selwyn Township expressing concern that the impacts on the shoreline and lakes of the proposed 38 to 40 new trailer sites on top of the escarpment have not been adequately studied. High phosphorus levels are regularly recorded in Lovesick Lake and the Burleigh Channel, and it is believed that Lovesick Lake is “at capacity.”

However, the capacity study called for during the August 2017 project pre-consultation meeting has not been carried out. And the Environmental Impact Study does not assess the direct impacts on the shoreline by the occupants of 40 new trailer sites.

Selwyn Township will hold a public meeting on this planning matter in the near future, giving 20 days advance notice. Further information is available on the Township website.

Note: The image above is a generic one.