• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Region gets $3M for lake cleanup

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In Agencies
Apr 24th, 2014
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By GISELE WINTON SARVIS, QMI AGENCY

Landowners within the Lake Simcoe watershed are needed to help restore the health of Lake Simcoe and southeastern Georgian Bay.

Environment Canada recently announced funding of more than $3 million for the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) to be channelled to cleanup projects in Lake Simcoe and southeastern Georgian Bay.

The Lake Simcoe Southeastern Georgian Bay Clean-up Fund (LSGBCUF) is an expansion of the first Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund.

“The ultimate objective is to clean up the lake by reducing phosphorus input and other pollutants from getting into the lake and improving the cold-water fish habitat,” said Phil Davies, the LSCRA’s manager of watershed stewardship.

“It’s all done by making improvements on the landscape. All the land-use practices that we do end up flowing through the rivers and creeks into Lake Simcoe,” Davies said.

Landowner involvement is critical because the bulk of the land in the watershed is owned by private landowners. A small portion is Crown land, Davies said.

“Without working with private landowners, the objectives we want to achieve wouldn’t be achieved,” he said.

The LSRCA has been involved in clean-up projects with landowners since it initiated its stewardship programs in 1989. The landowners Environmental Assistance Program (LEAP) is funded by member municipalities, Davies said.

The project got a huge boost when the federal government introduced the Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund in 2007 with the injection of $30 million.

That money, together with LEAP funding, allowed for many projects where waterfront residents could be sponsored to upgrade septic systems. This is an important action waterfront residents can take to reduce the amount of phosphrous from flowing into Lake Simcoe, Davies said.

That program ran into 2012. The federal government’s 2012 budget renewed the program under the new name LSGBCUF.

The LSRCA applied for funding in January 2013 and received news of funding this month. Funding is to be used for projects until 2017.

“The variety of projects address phosphrous reduction as well as the cold-water fishery in Lake Simcoe,” he said.

“Our stewardship programs work with landowners to address existing land issues. We don’t provide support for someone building a new home or creating a new paddock for livestock. We look for opportunities to fence livestock out of streams, septic-system upgrades and reforestation to put forests back on the landscape,” he said.

People who live along creeks can also apply to have planting of trees and shrubs that help improve water quality, Davies said.

Response from landowners since 1989 has been positive.

“We continue to have great interest in the community in doing work as people recognize more and more the importance of the environment, especially when there is an opportunity for someone to do something on their property that is going to make a difference and receive some support to do it,” he said.

The demand for stewardship work comes from a combination of sources including science, environmental organizations and citizen demand.

“People talk about swimming in the lake, creeks and rivers and remember them being much cleaner than they are now. People want to see that improved,” Davies said.

“All the work we do in stewardship is based on science and monitoring of the aquatic habitat and forest landscapes. We use all that to see what the issues are, what the most appropriate solutions are and then we go to the landowners,” he said.

The LSRCA has a team of eight working on LEAP/LSGBCUF projects, plus more workers on contract made up of stewardship technicians, watershed co-ordinators and forestry staff.

Interested landowners should call the LSRCA. Staff will meet with landowners, walk the properties and assess possible projects. The LSRCA is also planning workshops people can attend before developing individual projects.

For more information, visit lsrca.on.ca or call 905-895-1281.

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