Protecting our greatest asset

By Andrew Schell Orillia Packet & Times 

Clean water is critical to both human and ecological sustainability. The City of Orillia is fortunate to be surrounded by two of Ontario’s most beautiful lakes — Simcoe and Couchiching.

Environmental problems, including degraded water quality, have historically placed significant stress on many lakes and tributaries and the life they support due to urban, rural, recreational and agricultural activities. The primary stressors that tend to degrade source-water quality are nutrients (phosphorus), pollutants and contaminants (sediments and chlorides) and pathogens.

Lake Simcoe and its watershed are now considered to have serious environmental problems. The Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008, was passed as part of the provincial government’s overall strategy to protect and restore the watershed to ecological health. The act provided authority for the establishment of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan in 2009.

The plan sets out many new requirements municipalities must meet by June 2015. Unfortunately, some of the requirements come with extremely high costs. One of the requirements Orillia council and staff are struggling with is the need to meet new, stringent phosphorus limits the plan places on Orillia’s Wastewater Treatment Centre (WWTC), which discharges into Lake Simcoe.

Phosphorus is a nutrient that occurs naturally in the environment and is essential to plants and animals. In lakes and rivers, phosphorus encourages the growth of plants and algae. When the plants and algae die and decay, oxygen required by fish and aquatic species is depleted. With an abundance of phosphorus, decomposition creates an oxygen shortage in the deeper areas of the lake where cold-water fish species live and thrive.

Initially, the solution recommended for the city’s WWTC was a plant expansion at the current estimated cost of $18 million. This expenditure would have drained city reserves, required heavy borrowing and resulted in increases to the water and sewer rates. In light of this reality, the city reviewed alternatives to the project. One area of investigation was plant optimization, and it has produced significant results.

Through plant troubleshooting and optimization at the operating level, the phosphorus requirements for 2015 are being achieved, but teetering on the limit. It is our hope continued optimization efforts will allow the city to put off this large expenditure for a number of years. During this deferral period, the city will be able to build up financial resources to fund the project and explore alternatives acceptable to the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The MOE has agreed to work with the city and we are hopeful we can find solutions at a significantly lower cost.

The WWTC upgrade is one of many requirements set out with the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. The plan also includes the development, implementation and maintenance of a comprehensive storm-water management master plan, water conservation and efficiency plan and climate-change adaption strategies.

The city’s new manager of water resources will address the requirements of the plan and ultimately work toward cost-saving measures to achieve mandated compliance. As the WWTC and storm-water issues all have significant impacts on our area lakes, this position will focus exclusively on protecting and restoring the ecological health of the lakes that border a large portion of Orillia.

Residents can also help reduce the amount of phosphorus going into our lakes. Here are some tips you may want to consider: Use cleaning products that are phosphorus-free or phosphate-free; minimize or eliminate the use of lawn fertilizers; do not wash your car in the driveway; pick up pet waste and properly dispose of it in a garbage bin; and do not use home garbage grinders.

Every little bit helps as we try to maintain the phosphorus limits for Lake Simcoe.

Clean water isn’t something that can be taken for granted. It takes time, money and expertise to ensure we are protecting the city’s greatest asset — our environment.

Andrew Schell is the City of Orillia’s director of environmental services.