Carson Lake Photo: Harrison Haines
Growing up, I was very fortunate to have spent summers at my parent’s cottage on Lake Simcoe. So my love for cottaging, swimming and being near water has been ingrained into my well being throughout my life. But back then, we took the lake for granted, mistake number one. I gave witness to people rinsing their laundry in the lake with phosphate ridden soaps. Swimmers would shampoo their hair or scrub themselves with soap. The lake had become their bathtub. Few restrictions were placed on septic systems as I recall seeing outhouses placed right beside the water’s edge. These atrocities I witnessed, but people didn’t know better back then. I can’t imagine what else may have occurred that I didn’t see.
But putting aside the excuses, it was sad to see every fall, after the lake would quiet down from the summer’s activities, the green scum would form on the surface in bays where the water was quite still. Little did I know that I was looking at an algal bloom. As the years passed, the algae covering the rocky bottom became greener, longer and thicker, a slimy carpet as I recall.
Then came the explosion of zebra mussels. Now swimming in the lake became not so attractive for fear of cutting your feet on one of those. What followed in the years to come was thousands of dollars spent in attempt to restore the lake’s health. Today Lake Simcoe remains under a provincial protection plan.
Photo: Wendy Wolak
What once was cottage country has now been urbanized. That includes replacing my parents’ former cottage with a large house and the nearby boys camp is now the site of a suburban neighbourhood. What happened to cottage life?
Well, it can be found here in the Madawaska Valley with its surrounding pristine lakes and wilderness its special appeal attracting hunters and fishermen alike. My introduction to the area happened over three decades ago. My Polish born mother-in-law had a cottage on Halfway Lake. Swimming across the lake, smelling the scent of rustling pine trees and sweating those sultry summer nights on the deck longing for a breeze while being entertained by the accordion soloist from the Scout camp across the lake made life very memorable. Life was good! But twenty years later, circumstances changed which placed us on a different lake in the Barry’s Bay area where my husband and I met fellow cottagers who have disclosed their willingness to travel four to five-plus hours to get here. You have to love this place to sit in a car that long, right? Some even travel from as far as New York and Michigan States. So I knew this place was special.
But ten years have now passed and I have started to notice subtle but visible changes in our lake that caused me to worry with flashbacks of Lake Simcoe. This prompted me to join the Lake Partner Program where I get to help the folks at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change track the health of our lake by collecting data on phosphates, calcium and water depth clarity (secchi disk). About a year later, I was approached by Allan Best who asked if I would be interested in helping to start up the Carson, Trout, Lepine & Greenan Lakes Association. Without hesitation, I accepted. It was great joining a team of dedicated volunteers who similarly shared their love for our lakes and subsequent concerns. Since joining, we have been approached by people with mainly water quality concerns surrounding herbicide and fertilizer use, changes in aquatic weeds, noticeable decline in the frog population, and possible presence of heavy metal or chlorine contaminants.
Banded Mystery Snail
Source: https://adkwatershed.files.wordpress.com
At present, I oversee water quality but I am also growing and learning new information about invasive species in the area, like the banded mystery snail for instance that has invaded our lakes and acts as a carrier for swimmer’s itch. Also, a sign is now posted at the Greenan Lake boat launch, giving warning to boaters about importing the dreaded zebra mussel.
But that is not all we do. Al Best, our president, has arranged for Watersheds Canada to do a shoreline assessment of our lakes. What this does is provide the land owner with information as to help create and maintain a healthy shoreline environment and aquatic habitat which is important to catch toxins in runoff before it leaches into the lake and help to keep your shoreline intact against rising floodwaters like what happened last spring. Then for the fishing enthusiasts, Allan is also looking into stocking the lake with native lake trout fingerlings who have have a better chance of reproducing than farmed lake trout but the dissolved oxygen levels in the lake are critical to their success. And of course on a lighter note, it is delightful meeting new people, making our lakes a friendlier place to be and building community.
But some folks, however, have the misconception that our role is to resolve disputes between neighbours when in fact, to echo the statement from the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Association, FOCA,
“Our primary tools are communication, education, and advocacy. We encourage and empower positive environmental stewardship among property owners.”
We, as cottagers and waterfront property owners, matter because of what we contribute. As FOCA states, it
“matters to Ontario’s economy. Billions are spent each year by waterfront property owners in the province – on watercraft, septic systems, furnishings, food and drink, cottage maintenance, and much more.”
The same can be said for what cottagers bring to the Madawaska Valley. So it is imperative that we establish a collective voice on issues of taxation, municipal elections, services, and protection of our lakes and surrounding lands because if we sit idly by and allow our lakes to deteriorate, then the degradation of aquatic life, habitats and property values will negatively impact the economy of the area.
But we cannot do this without your help and support, so if you are a waterfront property owner, please consider joining your lake association.
To quote a Native American Proverb,
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
For more information, check out FOCA’s website at https://foca.on.ca
About the author: Wendy has been cottaging with her family in the Barry’s Bay area since 1979. She earned a B.Sc in Environmental Studies (University of Toronto) and an M.Sc. in Education (Canisius College, NY). Her working career included the Royal Ontario Museum (Ornithology), teaching children with special needs and secondary general science in Simcoe County. Now semi-retired, she has joined the Board of Directors for the CTLG Lakes Association with a focus on water quality and invasive species.