Dear Editor:
I must congratulate the Whitewater Region council as they have finally convinced me that they have no desire whatsoever in assisting in the development of a remediation plan for Muskrat Lake. After several months and presentations to council I finally get it: both Whitewater Region Council and Renfrew County Council have passed the problem off to the Muskrat Watershed Council, knowing full well that the problem will never be resolved without serious help from our elected officials. Instead they choose to throw the Muskrat Watershed Council an annual $5000 gift:” Go away and play and don’t bother us until next year!”
The water quality of Muskrat Lake is definitely a water quality issue with the residents on Muskrat Lake!
Again, I must apologize for being so naive that I believed Whitewater Region Council was actually interested in improving water quality in such a valuable natural resource as Muskrat Lake and the source of drinking water for Cobden.
Silly of me not to realize that the most important issue facing Whitewater Region Council is; How do we donate $400,000 to BEI?; even though in section 2.12(b) of the Renfrew County official plan it states: ” Developers are responsible for the cost of installing all services in new developments and will be required to contribute to the costs of trunk mains and of lighting for access roads.”
To put in the 2016 Whitewater Region Council budget discussions that the funds requested to hire a qualified limnologist to develop a lake remediation plan was a “Donation Request” was hilarious. There was never any indication that council was expected to fund it. It was requested that Whitewater Region help in obtaining funding! In meetings I had with Whitewater Region staff it was understood that they would ask for council’s support in trying to get funding for hiring an organization that specializes in fundraising. That support by council never materialized to this day.
Section 15.1.1 of the Renfrew County Official Plan, dated June 2015, states: “The goal of achieving a healthy economy acknowledges the interdependence of maintaining healthy environment, particularly for Muskrat Lake……. The need to promote growth and development in order to create employment opportunities, maintain a healthy economy and improve the water quality of Muskrat Lake are primary issues of importance in the Township of Whitewater Region community.”
Shame on me for actually believing that our elected officials would ever support these statements in the Renfrew County official plan.
Do the above statements in the official plan mean that we should be able to enjoy the beaches, swim in Muskrat Lake and go fishing without the smell of decaying algae?
Will Whitewater Region Council adopt the Renfrew County official plan and take the above statements seriously?
Where do we go from here?…..Probably several more reports indicating how much nutrients from the Snake River are affecting algal blooms in Muskrat Lake, several more reports about fish kill in the lake, several more years of pictures in the Whitewater News of algal blooms in Muskrat Lake, several more years of the annual $5,000 gift thrown to the Muskrat Watershed Council, several more presentations by various concerned groups …..but probably no real progress in resolving the issue!
I am asking that Whitewater Region Council get serious about assisting MWC in developing a remediation plan for Muskrat Lake so we can promote growth and development in Whitewater Region.
We need to get serious about developing a remediation plan for Muskrat Lake.
Donald W. Deer. P. Eng.
Whitewater Region
