COBDEN — Andrew Laird and Brian Whitehead from the Muskrat Watershed Council spoke to the Whitewater Region corporate services committee about what it intends to do with the $5,000 request it made to Whitewater Region council.
During budget deliberations, council agreed to the request, but, added a stipulation that the money not be used for more studies and to ensure this was followed, only half the request would be provided.
Following the presentation by the two men, the committee agreed to recommend to council that the full amount be released to the watershed council.
Mr. Whitehead said the money will be spent primarily in two areas — project funding activities and educating and communicating with the public.
The watershed council is still awaiting results from the first monitoring work, which occurred last year. It’s hoped there will be another science night to present the results as well as a phososphorous budget that’s been prepared by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) that is detailed and current.
Mr. Whitehead said it’s important to monitor and study the lake, but, just as important to demonstrate that the council is doing something to prevent more damage to the lake.
The council has drafted a document to help guide decision-making and what projects it should be focusing on in the future, he explained.
The agricultural committee is working with farmers and are focusing on soil erosion, shoreline buffering and agricultural/municipal drains.
“The sources of nutrient-loading are actually outside of the municipal jursidiction,” he said. “If we can do our bit to try and mitigate those sources, it’s a benefit to Whitewater.”
The goal is to build momentum with the agricultural community and provide resources to help with the soil erosion, etc, he said.
The council is also working with students from Algonquin College regarding agricultural land.
It takes time to prepare the work to be done and do it, Mr. Whitehead said.
He said farmers are being encouraged to create buffers along the water course and not to crop right up to the water. Other solutions include providing them with seed so they can keep a portion of the land in pasture, which is better than crops, he added.
The bio-chord project is ongoing, which is collecting samples of what’s in the water from within the watershed, he said.
Another portion of funding will go towards reaching out to the community, Mr. Whitehead said. It helps put on the science nights, which have been successful, and communicate with the public.
He noted the council is planning a Canada Day event, which is in conjunction with the fireworks, which is put on by the Cobden Activities Committee.
Mr. Laird said the event could include live entertainment, displays by the OPP Marine unit, fire department, Garrison Petawawa and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
There could also be a poker run on the lake between 5 and 7 p.m., he said.
It’s expected events could begin about 3 p.m. and continue on until the fireworks, which is at dark.
He is talking to various people within the community to see what they would like to have during the afternoon/evening.
“We want to get as much community input as we can,” Mr. Laird said.
Mr. Whitehead is hopeful of much larger funding from outside sources for bigger projects, and with the municipal council’s participation, that’s possible.
When questioned about the recent biochord pilot project site chosen on Mink Creek in Pine Valley, Mr. Laird said they were chosen for various reasons, including permits, water availability, and up and downstream monitoring sites that already exist.
Mr. Whitehead said, “We wanted to put the rafts where we already had an existing monitoring station, so we had to put in a new monitoring station upstream so that we can compare the difference in the results of the water samples, so that if there’s an improvement downstream, we can measure the level of improvement.”
Reeve Terry Millar said he was glad to read the information provided about what the money will be spent on.
“We’re concentrating on that area of what ultimately is coming in from the Snake River,” he said, adding the question, “Am I right in saying 60 per cent of the phosphorous is coming in from that source.”
Mr. Whitehead said the geography of the cachment areas for the lake show there are two watercourses that drain into Muskrat Lake — the Muskrat River has about 5,000 to 6,000 hectares; around the lake with 5,000 to 6,000 hectares that drain into the lake and about 38,000 hectares that drain out of the Snake River.
“It’s not all agriculture,” Mr. Whitehead said. “There is phosphorous that comes from leaves, forested areas, and the whole Snake River watershed is not all agriculture. It’s just by virtue of the size of the watershed that it’s naturally going to have a higher amount of phosphorous loading than other parts of it.”
Reeve Millar questioned if there is aquatic filtration going on and if that is being looked at. He questioned if, in the Osceola area, wasn’t there a natural filter that was moved out by the MNR?
Mr. Whitehead noted there’s quite a bit of wetland that has been reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Even lowering the dam in Ocesola is a problem, becuase it lowers the water table upstream which means more land for agriculture.
“Even if you wanted to create new dams or weirs, you end up flooding land again that’s otherwise used for production,” he said, adding, “Creating wetlands is on the table as an option.”
With the results of the first monitoring reports, it’s hopeful it will pinpoint where the major sources are along the watershed, not just Snake River, he explained.
Mayor Hal Johnson said the Muskrat Watershed Council is moving in the right direction.
“Its actually quite exciting the movements that have been made,” he said. “This is a positive approach.”
He questioned if funding will be used to reduce the phosphorous that is already in the lake.
Mr. Whitehead said Muskrat Lake is a low flushing lake, which means there is internal loading of phosophorous, and there is some scientific debate about how quickly that phosphorous is released. While some people believe the solution should be in the lake, solutions have been examined, but it would cost millions of dollars, he said.
“There are all kinds of technologies you can use, but it’s at the end, it’s at the the receptor of all nutrient loading,” Mr. Whitehead said. “You can spend millions and get immediate results, but it’s temporary until you stop using that technology.and then the nutrient loading comes again.
“Our mission statement is to look at the sources and pathways of nutrient loading first, in a more holistic way, and then, we’re not saying no to the technologies if the money’s there,” he said. “We’ve actually tried to apply for some funding, but we’ve been turned down, so it’s not off the table.”
There are five municipalities within the watershed vying for funding with areas of higher priority, such as lakes Erie and Lake. However, Mr. Whitehead noted, there’s more potential to come up with solutions here rather than in the larger bodies of water. But, those areas around lakes Simcoe and Erie, they can make more noise.
Reeve Millar noted there is documentation that Muskrat Lake needs the attention to clean it up. However, it’s going to take more than the $5,000 from this muncipal council to fix it — it’s going to take millions of dollars, he said.
