Back to HomeFeature Article - August 20, 2009 Celebrating the fascinating logging heritage of the Mississippi River

Loggers at Big Beach.

On August 22 and 23, come to the Mississippi River Heritage Festival in McDonalds Corners to celebrate the forests and the river that to this day remain an important element of our economic, recreational and spiritual life. “While the catalyst for the festival was the 125th anniversary of the end of the Caldwell/McLaren loggers’ feud and the establishment of the rights of public access to all waterways”, says Mary Vandenhoff, owner of the Nature Lover’s Bookshop in Lanark and co-chair of the festival, “we quickly recognized that the celebration was really about the loggers and their families, the forests and rivers, the important contributions they made and still make towards the excellent quality of life enjoyed here in the watershed.

Logging was the backbone of the early Lanark economy, employing huge numbers of people, directly and indirectly. For many it represented the only means of earning money. The work was hard and life in the shanties offered no luxuries, but provided excitement, adventure and a livelihood for young men. The Mississippi River Heritage Festival will provide a glimpse into the lives and activities of those in the woods and on the rivers, as well as those left at home.

On Saturday morning at Shanty Beach (today called Centennial Beach on Lavant Mill Road) the focus will be on the log drivers, famous for their skill and daring in this dangerous activity. Tom Stephenson, who made the “Last River Run” down the Ottawa in 2008, will offer visitors the opportunity to paddle a classic pointer boat used to move the timber downstream. Learn about the traditional aboriginal birch bark canoe (also adopted for use in the log drives) and see Becky Mason perform her well-known “Canoe Ballet” showing how versatile a canoe can be. There will also be a guided Heritage and Nature hike (for those at the intermediate level) from the beach up to High Falls to see the ruins of the Geddes mills and the famous log chute, ending with a short tour of Ontario Power Generation’s High Falls operating plant.

Photo right: Pat & Laurie Brownlee and their daughter Robin work on the replica of a logger's shantyin preparation of the Mississippi River Heritage festival.

Saturday afternoon, August 22, the “McDonald Shanty” at the MERA Schoolhouse presents life in the shanties and on the home front. Displays of tools and a demonstration of hand hewing will fascinate all those with an interest in forestry, as will a presentation on “The Forests of the Mississippi, Then and Now”. A re-creation of the inside of a shanty, courtesy of the Middleville Museum, will provide a thought-provoking insight into the logger’s life.

As the logging industry depended on the supplies and services from the local communities, rope making, blacksmithing, soap-making, spinning, weaving, and pottery were all important activities that festival visitors will be able to observe and appreciate. The Algonquin, who had been living in the area for centuries before the pioneers arrived, were important players in the lives of the loggers in the bush where they generously shared their traditional knowledge of plants, the most lasting being use of maple sap for syrup. Displays and presentations on aboriginal heritage is an important component of this celebration of the Mississippi River heritage.

But it wasn’t all work and no play, especially for the children. The festival invites children to join in traditional games such as the Mississippi skipping game, M – eye – crooked letter – crooked letter – eye – humped back – humped back…..

Music and dance played an important role, providing entertainment both in the shanties and the local communities. After six days of heavy work, come Saturday night, fiddling, dancing, singing and telling stories took over. With no women with whom to dance in the shanties, some would wear aprons or kerchiefs to play the part of the women in these “buck dances”. At the Log Drivers Dinner and Dance at the McDonalds Corners Agricultural Hall, enjoy an old-fashioned Saturday evening with lively shanty music. To round the evening off, circle round a bonfire, evoking memories of the romance at the dance and bonfire that ended the Caldwell-McLaren feud.

Sunday was always a day of rest and church when possible. Bring along your chair for a Sunrise Service on Sunday, 7:30AM on the shore of Dalhousie Lake across from Sylvania Lodge. Opening with a piper, from pontoon boats on the water, the minister and choir will lead this unusual interfaith service that will also include a traditional aboriginal Sacred Fire. The service is followed by River Eco-tours down the Mississippi River.

Visit www.mississippiriverheritagefestival.ca for the complete Festival program.

Back to HomeFeature Article - August 6, 2009 Mississippi River Festival:the loggers’ feud at High Falls In the mid 1870s, High Falls on the Mississippi just above Dalhousie Lake was the centre of a major controversy over the freedom of navigation on Ontario’s waterways. During these years there was a private dispute between the Lanark logging firms of Peter McLaren and Boyd Caldwell over the right of Caldwell to pass his timber through the log slides constructed by McLaren on his land adjacent to High Falls. This was only resolved with the decision on March 6, 1884, by the British Privy Council, Caldwell v McLaren 9 AC 392 (1884) supporting the claim by Boyd Caldwell to public navigation rights. This became a landmark event of major economic importance locally, provincially and nationally.

The key to success in the logging industry was the ability to move timber down the rivers from the stands inland to mills downstream and markets abroad. In the mid-1870s, Peter McLaren purchased land adjacent to High Falls, constructed a dam across the river, directing the water through a chute on his property. McLaren claimed that his dam and the expensive slide improvements gave him exclusive rights to use that portion of the river and conversely to deny passage to Caldwell and other logging firms. Boyd Caldwell felt entitled to move his timber past the “unlawful” obstacles, either by breaking the dam or using the McLaren chute. Thus began years of legal action between the rival loggers (including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Canadian Supreme Court) moving quickly into the political realm as a full-blown federal/provincial dispute, the provincial and federal governments supporting Caldwell and McLaren respectively. Tension was high throughout the region, dividing families and settlements along Caldwell/McLaren lines, seriously affecting the socio-economic fabric of the local settlements centred on logging.

The court decision definitively ended the decade of intermittent blockage of timber movement on the Mississippi River. It settled an on-going Federal/Provincial constitutional dispute pitting free navigation rights against private property rights. More importantly, the decision led ultimately to the 1884 Ontario Streams and Rivers Act and that, to this day, guarantees freedom of passage on Canada’s navigable waterways.

Shortly after the judicial resolution, the personal feud faded and the families and followers reconciled upon the romance (ignited at a McDonalds Corners dance) and subsequent marriage between a fiercely loyal McLaren man and the daughter of a similarly fiercely loyal Caldwell man. Caldwell and McLaren became close friends and moved on to wider interests and illustrious careers.

On August 22 and 23 in McDonalds Corners, you are invited to the Mississippi River Heritage Festival to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the British Privy Council decision, the historical events that culminated with that decision, and the central role of logging in the rich heritage of the Mississippi River.

Visit www.mississippiriverheritagefestival.ca for details of the festival, or call 613-259-5654.

Back to HomeFeature Article - May 14, 2009 August festival in honour of a historic logging feudby Jeff Green

Actually it is the end of the feud that is being celebrated.

MERA (McDonalds Corners Elphin Recreation Association) will be presenting the Mississippi River Heritage Festival on August 22 and 23 to mark the end of the Lumberman's Feud between two lumber baron families of the Mississippi River, the McLarens and the Caldwells.

The story of the Lumberman's Feud is of political significance, because its resolution established the public's right to use waterways in this country. It is also of commercial significance for the lumber trade that ruled Frontenac and Lanark counties in the 19th Century. Its ultimate resolution came about because of, you guessed it, love and marriage in McDonalds Corners.

It all started in the 1870s when Peter Mclaren and Boyd Caldwell both owned lumber mills in Carleton Place, and ran logs from logging camps in north western Lanark and Frontenac County down the Mississippi River system.

McLaren invested in a log slide at High Falls, which is located on Dalhousie Lake between Snow Road and Watson's Corners, for his own use. He decided that because of his investment, only his logs could pass over the falls and down Dalhousie Lake to Mississippi River and Carleton Place.

Boyd Caldwell did not agree, and the dispute that started on the remote shores of Dalhousie between logging crews ended up being argued at Parliament Hill and in courtrooms in Ottawa, and ultimately, London, England.

After winning legal and political battles in Ontario (1881, 1882, and 1883) and promptly losing them due to federal rulings, Boyd Caldwell appealed to the Committee of the Privy Council in England, and won. A subsequent version of the Ontario Streams and Rivers Act was not challenged, and the federal Navigable Waters Protection Act followed, guaranteeing public use of Canadian waterways to this day.

The Caldwell-McLaren dispute did not end when the political issue was solved, however. It took a Christmas dance at McDonalds Corners to do that.

An account of those events was written by Harry Walker, a writer for the Ottawa Journal, and was reprinted in Hilda Geddes book, “The Canadian Mississippi River.”

Walker said the story came to him “as told by an unknown writer in an old clipping in a district paper”.

As the story goes, a dance was being held on Christmas Eve in “McDonald's 'stopping place' at McDonalds Corners.

Since McDonalds Corners was considered a Caldwell stronghold at the time, the foreman of the McLaren Shanty had forbidden his men to go near the dance.

We'll let Harry Walker tell the rest of the story.

“But Ronald Grant, a McLaren man, was in love with Jessie Mcllquham (or “Mucklewham” as the district Scots pronounced it), the best dancer in Drummond township. She was the daughter of stern Calvinistic David “Mucklewham”, an uncompromising Caldwell supporter. Jessie's father had refused his consent “to a McLaren man takin' bairn o' mine in wedlock”. In the black bitterness of his heart, young Grant brooded over that refusal, and became more of a '“McLaren” man than ever.

Jessie “Mucklewham” was to be at the dance, and Grant, tortured by visions of that lovely Highland girl with her dark, flashing eyes, determined to go. He taunted his foreman with the charge that if McLaren men did not put in an appearance they would be branded as cowards. Stung by such a suggestion, the grizzled old foreman declared: “McLaren men are afraid of nothing that walks, dances or fights on the Highland Line. Put a bundle of axe-handles in the sleigh and go”.

Down the moonlit road raced the sleigh with its McLaren cohorts, and Ronald arrived to claim his quota of dances. How Ronald won his bride right there at the dance while McLaren and Caldwell men applauded is a story that brightens the annals of Lanark County. There was no more warfare on the Mississippi.”

With a history like that, it's a wonder that a festival honouring the end of the “Lumberman's Feud” has never been held in McDonalds Corners before; but the wait is now over.

On the weekend of August 22 and 23, MERA, in conjunction with the McDonalds Corners Agricultural Society and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority will be holding a two-day festival, with events being scheduled for Centennial Beach on Dalhousie Lake, as well as at MERA and the Agricultural Hall and grounds.

The festival committee has applied for a grant from Festivals Canada, but approvals have been delayed this year. A couple of weeks ago, the committee decided the festival would happen whether the funding comes through or not. Among events that are in the planning stages are dressing up the MERA schoolhouse as a 19th century Shanty town. There will be historical displays about the area, traditional logging demonstrations, music, discussions about the historical and current state of the forests, as well as a youth-based drama about the McLarens and the Caldwells.

The culmination of the Saturday portion of the festival will be a log drivers’ dance at the Ag. Hall to celebrate the dance that ended the feud.

The final itinerary is still being worked on, and some of the scale of the festival will depend on funding, but with such a rich history to work from, the Mississippi River Heritage Festival promises to be a highlight of the '09 summer season.

For further information, contact Marilyn Barnett at 613-259-2269 or Mary Vandenhoff at 613-259-5654. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 30, 2009 North Frontenac Council – April 23by Jeff Green

North Frontenac Council will be making a single application for funding under the new Federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and the Build Canada Funds.

The entire council agreed to apply for funding to rehabilitate sections of the Ardoch road, at a cost of $750,000, 2/3 which will be paid for by the Ontario and Canadian governments if the townships funding application is accepted.

According to the latest road and bridge study the township has done, the two bridge projects that are the highest priority are a bridge on Folgers road in the north end of the township, and a bridge on Robertsville road.

The two projects would cost in the neighborhood of $750,000 each, with the township being on the hook for $250,000.

Works manager John Ibey said there might be a cheaper repair possible for the Robertsville Road bridge, using culverts.

“The Folger road is rarely used,” said Ibey.

“The two bridges are small bridges with little real use, and our cost would be a half a million, which we might be stuck paying off over ten years. I don't see it,” said Mayor Ron Maguire.

While there was little appetite on council for the bridge projects, the same cannot be said for the Ompah fire hall.

Council has agreed in principle to building a new fire hall in Ompah, has purchased land in the village for a fire hall and put money aside each year towards a fire hall. However, the questions of how big the hall should be and whether the hall will include space for an ambulance base have not been resolved.

“To commit to the Ompah fire hall is committing to something we are not ready for,” said Maguire, “it is not the kind of shovel ready project that they want to see, and it would get us tied into something that is not really what we need. It requires further study. There's a consensus here for Ardoch road. There's no consensus for anything else.

A motion to apply for funding for a fire hall in Ompah was put forward, by Deputy Mayor Jim Beam.

The motion was defeated, with Jim Beam and Bob Olmstead being the only members of council who supported it. Councilor Lonnie Wadkins was absent from the meeting.

ATV proposal – Chris Murphy from the Ontario Federation of ATV clubs (OFATV), which has 21 member clubs, including the Ottawa Valley ATV club, made a presentation to Council. Aside from describing his organisation, Murphy asked that passes to use Crown Land roads in North Frontenac be folded into a province wide ATV trail pass that is administered by the OFATV.

“This is a really, big, really growing sport. We are trying to build a province wide trail system, with insured trails, proper signage and maintenance, everything. The snowmobile association is the model for what we are trying to create.”

“I have apprehensions about this,” said Deputy Mayor Beam, “our situation is unique.”

“Our crown land roads are not trails,” said Mayor Maguire, “and our roads are not ... our roads even. Any talk about maintaining those roads would have to involve the MNR [Ministry of Natural Resources]. We can't entertain that at all.”

MVFN on Climate Change - Howard Robinson, a resident of Clayton who has a cottage on Buckshot Lake, made a presentation to council on behalf of the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN), of which he is a member.

The MVFN held a two-day workshop in Almonte in 2007 on the potential impacts of climate change on the land and waters of the Mississippi, and have released a paper and web version of the report that came out of that workshop.

“From Impacts to Adaptation – Mississippi Watershed in a changing climate”. Based on data from the past 40 years, the report shows an increase in the average temperature in the region of 1 degree Celsius, which might not seem like that much, but it has already had an impact on the length of the growing season, adding 15 days. Climate change could continue on a slow track, which would see average temperatures rising by another degree by 2050, on a medium track, which would see a rise of 2 degrees in that same time-frame, or on an accelerated track, up 4 degrees by 2050.

The report talks about potential impacts on the water and water levels and the flora and fauna and on infrastructure in the region under these scenarios.

The impacts could be rather severe, but by taking certain measures such as maintaining forest cover in the vicinity of the Mississippi river, the impacts will be mitigated.

The report proposes that planning begin on a municipal level to adjust to the changes that are coming.

Out of the Almonte conference the following communiqué was adopted:

“Many important economic and social decisions are being made today on long term projects and activities in our watershed based on the assumption that past climate data are a reliable guide to the future. This is no longer a good assumption. We believe that all levels of government are key players in this issue and must raise awareness and incorporate climate change into planning, decision making and leadership”

The MVFN has forged a partnership with the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) of which North Frontenac is a member and a funding municipality.

“I'm the Council representative on the MVCA,” said Jim Beam, “and we are well aware of the report. We've talked about water temperature, which could have huge effect in this area, less trout and more pickerel for example.”

“Humans are good at adapting,” said Howard Robinson, “but we can do it in a planned rather than a relative way.”

As a first step, Robinson proposed that as the township’s official plan is reviewed this year, language about climate change adaptation be added, in line with what the City of Toronto has done.

“We will consider this as a submission to our Official Plan review process and work it in that way,” said Mayor Maguire.

Location of Plevna Library branch – Council has authorized staff member Cory Klatt to proceed with site preparation at the former MNR site on Buckshot Lake road for the establishment of a replacement for the Plevna branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library in a donated portable classroom.

Although Ed Giffin lives in Inverary now, he continues to be known for the way he tied business and conservation interests together in establishing and running Tumblehome Lodge, near Ardoch, with his wife Shirley.

Giffin, 70, recently received a major award, the Jack O’Dette Conservation Leadership Award, from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH). While the award was precipitated by his work for the OFAH, his longstanding work on conservation and watershed issues along the Mississippi Valley were mentioned as well. “The award is important to me because it is named after Jack O’Dette, whom I knew well and respected,” Giffin said when interviewed by the News earlier this week.

In fact, Ed Giffin’s involvement with the Federation of Anglers and Hunters came about because of the illness that eventually claimed Jack O’Dette. “We used to sit on a lot of committees together, for fish and wildlife and forest management. He represented the OFAH and I was representing tourist operators. When his health started to go he asked me to attend a meeting of zone F [Eastern Ontario] for the OFAH. He then asked me to finish off the year for him because he was unable to carry on, and that’s how I became active with the OFAH,” Giffin said.

Jack O’Dette was renowned throughout Canada for his conservation work, and was named to the Order of Canada. He died in 2005.

Ed Giffin is now the chair of Zone F of the OFAH and is a member of their board of directors. He was also one of the authors of a comprehensive Mississippi Water Management Plan that was released in 2006, is a charter member of the Conservationists of Frontenac Addington (COFA), and currently sits on the fisheries management committee of the Ministry of Natural Resources that is working on developing fishing regulations for Eastern Ontario. Giffin is also well versed in the Algonquin Land Claim and represents the OFAH and COFA on the stakeholders’ committee, which has been meeting sporadically to be apprised of the direction in which the land claim negotiations are headed.

Ed and Shirley Giffins’ connection to the Mississippi river watershed, and to Crotch Lake, goes back to the days when they were teachers in Kanata. “We used to canoe the Mississippi, and I brought my students on canoe trips to the area. I remember seeing the rundown buildings of a fishing lodge at the end of the bay on Crotch Lake in the distance, never thinking we would end up taking over that business.”

In 1979, the Giffins did just that, and re-named their resort Tumblehome, which is the name for the curved section of a canoe or a sailboat from the widest point to the gunnels. They built up the resort, rebuilt all the cabins with modern conveniences in order to attract families in the summertime in addition to fishing parties, and ran it until a few years ago, when they passed it on to their son Ward, who now operates the lodge.

When they ran the lodge, the Giffins rented canoes and provided advice about routes through the other lakes on the watershed, and Ed provided the perspective of someone who knew not only all the paddling routes on the watershed but the wildlife that lives there as well, to Mississippi Valley Conservation and the Mazinaw Area Fish and Wildlife Committee, among others.

When it came time for North Frontenac Council to provide a recommendation for a member of the Mississippi Valley Source Water Protection Committee, they approached Ed Giffin, but he declined because he already has a number of ongoing commitments, all conservation-related.

While he has avoided direct political involvement over the years, Ed Giffin has always promoted the perspective that economic activities such as forestry, hunting, fishing and camping can be wedded to conservation goals and that there is a deep connection between human beings and the natural world.

“None of us would be here today if we did not have strong hunters and gatherers in our background somewhere along the line. It is part of who we are,” he said.

 

A beautiful 100-acre upland wilderness area has been donated to the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust Conservancy (MMLTC) by the family of Charlie Armstrong and his daughters, Charlene and Bethany. On Friday, May 4, the public is invited to visit Rose Hill Nature Reserve to celebrate this generous donation.

The land, located just west of Rose Hill Lake, will be preserved in perpetuity by MMLTC, a registered charity. It will become a Nature Reserve for environmental education, research and low-impact recreational public enjoyment. An access trail traverses the property.

Charles Armstrong purchased the property in the 1940s. It was close to the Fritsch farm in Denbigh where his wife had grown up. Bethany and Charlene fondly remember the happy annual outings to Rose Hill in later years with the grandchildren who were entranced as Grandpa would point out natural landmarks and identify trees, plants and animal tracks. Charlene and Bethany are gratified that this wonderful tract of forest and wetlands that their father loved so much will be cared for and appreciated by future generations as it matures and evolves. They know that Charlie would have been simply delighted!

For MMLTC, Rose Hill is an important acquisition because of its high wilderness value. With passive management, this Nature Reserve is expected to become a showcase of rich habitats, especially for threatened and endangered species. The property lies within the important Algonquin to Adirondack corridor and is the first property in this area under formal protection. The public will be encouraged to visit Rose Hill Nature Reserve to learn more about the importance of nature conservation and protection.

The acquisition of this property was supported by the Ontario Land Trust Assistance Program (OLTAP), which assists eligible recipients with the costs of land securement transactions to help conserve Ontario’s biodiversity. OLTAP is an initiative of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance made possible by the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Department of Environment and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

You are invited to join Bethany and Charlene and representatives of the Land Trust on May 4 at 2 p.m. to formally complete the donation and transfer of the property into the ownership and protection of the Land Trust. Following a brief ceremony, there will be a short guided tour of part of the property to appreciate what the Charlie Armstrong family and the MMLTC find so special. To reach the Rose Hill Nature Reserve, just north of Denbigh on Highway 41, turn east on Rose Hill Road and follow the signs.

For further information regarding this event, the Rose Hill Nature Reserve or the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust Conservancy, please visit www.mmltc.ca or call 613-278-2939.

 

There’s still time to book your shoreline planting project with MVC. Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) staff have already planted more than 100 trees and shrubs on lakefront properties in the watershed this season…and we’re looking for more projects.

Native riparian plantings help provide erosion control, natural water filtration, and create habitats. If your waterfront property needs some TLC, MVC staff will help you with planning, labour, and materials for free. Call Brian Anderson at 613-259-2421 ext. 228 to discuss your shoreline property needs.

Funding for this program was generously provided by the Mississippi Valley Conservation Foundation (MVCF) and the Community Stewardship Council of Lanark County.

This program is part of the integrated approach to watershed management. By supporting a combination of large scale initiatives and community and individual projects MVC works together with watershed stakeholders to manage and protect the health of the Mississippi Valley watershed.

As your local conservation authority, MVC staff members, such as environmental planners, forestry technicians, biologists, engineers, and outdoor educators, are available to answer your questions. Want to know more? Visit www.mvc.on.ca or call 613-259-2421.

 

Photo: Light green algae at the water's edge on Hawley Bay. The algae. although unpleasant, is not toxic, but it is an indicator.

A group of residents who live in the vicinity of Hawley Bay on the east basin of Sharbot Lake have noticed that the waters around their homes have been inundated with green algae.

The algae sits on the surface of the water for a short time, and then slips under the water, where it remains for a while before dropping to the bottom.

“There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of light green algae that is prevalent throughout the east basin,” said Hawley Bay resident Barb Driscoll in an email to the Sharbot Lake Property Owners' Association, “as you might be aware, this type of algae is a by-product of pollution caused by high phosphate levels as well as sewage seeping into the lake.”

John Earhart, who has been staying at Barb Driscoll's house while he builds a house on Eagle Lake, took a water sample from Hawley's Bay and had it tested at the Public Health Lab in Kingston. The sample came back with a total coliform count of 58 parts per million, well above the safe drinking water level of 5 parts per million.

Earhart said that a similar problem existed on Curls Bay at Eagle Lake for several years, until it was discovered that several septic systems were leaking in the bay.

“The problem was resolved when the septic tanks were identified and corrected,” he said.

Ken Waller, president of the Sharbot Lake Property Owners' Association (SLPOA), responded within hours to Barb Driscoll's email.

“Educating property owners about the need to reduce (eliminate) phosphates in their detergents and cleaning products and to ensure their septic system is working properly is an ongoing task,” he said in a return email. “ ... as you know, SLPOA has, for several years, been pushing for a septic re-inspection program from the township. It is on their agenda but the mayor has advised that they are awaiting the release of a provincial regulation on septic re-inspection before they proceed.”

The township has instituted a voluntary septic inspection program, which is being carried out by the Mississippi-Rideau Septic System office, a joint venture of the Mississippi and Rideau Valley Conservation Authorities.

Since Sharbot Lake is part of the Mississippi River watershed (Sharbot Lake is spring fed, draining into the Fall River which feeds into the Mississippi) water testing is carried out by Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) on an annual basis.

Every five years, comprehensive testing is done and a State of the Lake report is produced.

2011 is Sharbot Lake’s year for comprehensive testing, which will include total phosphorous levels, chlorophyll levels, dissolved oxygen, temperature profiles and water clarity.

According to Doug Nuttal, a water engineer with MVC, these tests give a greater indication of the health of the lake than coliform tests that are commonly used for drinking water.

“A single coliform reading could be the result of something that happened only at the location of the test, so it requires a lot more testing to get a true sense of the water quality,” he said, when interviewed early this week.

He also said that the light green algae that has been identified by Sharbot Lake residents is indeed an indicator of pollution caused by elevated phosphorous levels and/or septic system failures.

The last state of the lake report was completed in 2006, and at that time the level of chlorophyll (which indicates levels of algae) in the east basin was low to moderate. The phosphorous levels just below the surface were low and at the bottom of the lake they were elevated, suggesting that the level of phosphorous entering the lake in the 1970s and 80s had been high but had decreased over the previous 15 years.

Doug Nuttal said that the MVC will announce the results of the 2011 state of the lake survey as soon as they are compiled, which will be in the fall. The report should show whether the algae that is so prevalent this year near Hawley Bay is indeed an indicator of a major water problem in the east basin of Sharbot Lake.

 

Photo: Nigel Waltho, a biologist at Carleton University who specializes in the Caribbean Sea, has a property on Sharbot Lake. He took some underwater photos in Sharbot Lake earlier this summer, including this one.

“Focusing on community improvements in Sharbot Lake village while ignoring the water quality of the lake is like putting lipstick on a pig”, said one member of the SLPOA at the recent Sharbot Lake Property Owners Association annual general meeting, which was held at Oso hall on July 21.

The comment came following an address by Mayor Janet Gutowski who spoke of the township’s voluntary septic re-inspections program, which was completed on the lake’s west basin in 2011. Of the 85 systems inspected at that time, 21 were found to be well maintained while 58 required remedial work; one needed full replacement and the remaining few either required more information or other basic work. The program was suspended this year due to the changeover of building staff at the township, but will resume in 2013 on the west basin of Sharbot Lake.

In a straw vote, the vast majority of association members indicated that only a mandatory inspection system will bring the results they think the lake needs.

Gutowski responded that mandatory re-inspections would be difficult to legislate through council since it was not popular with some voters. She added, however, that she felt mandatory re-inspections would be legislated in the next few years by the province. For many SLPOA members that time will not come soon enough, because the water quality of the lake has been steadily on the decline.

In his presentation, Kevin Browne, environmental coordinator with the SLPOA, talked about a rapid decline in water quality of Sharbot Lake over the last five years. Though it improved dramatically since the mid 1970s and was at its best between 2001 and 2006, the numbers Browne cited in a Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) study pointed to a decline since 2006.

Browne said the reasons include climate factors and the fact that more people are now living full time on the lake, negatively affecting the shoreline’s ribbon of life and increasing the number of septic systems and gray water systems on the lake.

Though water clarity is improving as a result of the appearance of zebra mussels in the last few years, phosphorous levels, which negatively affect the quality of the water, have increased dramatically in the last five years. Data collected through the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority’s Watershed Watch Report shows that levels of phosphorus in the lake’s east and west basins are at or approaching what is called an eutrophic, or enriched level, with high levels nutrients available for plant growth.

Discussing those levels with Susan Lee of the MVCA, it turns out they are not that clear cut. MVCA does a Watershed Watch report for each lake in the Mississippi Valley Watershed every five years. While it is the case that the phosphorous level at lake bottom on the west basin of Sharbot Lake, which is the cold water basin, jumped from 10.4 in 2006 to 22.3 in 2011, the east basin level dropped from the very high level 36.1 in 2006 to 20 in 2011.

Provincial standards define levels of 20 or more as eutrophic

“We tend to look at the long-term trends,” said Lee, “so if there is a high reading in one study, we look five years later to see if the reading is still high. It is is more of a concern if the numbers don’t settle,” she said.

A quick scan of Watershed Watch reports along the Mississippi watershed reveals that a number of lakes tend to have very low phosphorous levels historically and in recent reports, while others are high, much higher than Sharbot Lake.

For example, the phosphorous levels in Crotch and Palmerston Lakes have always been under 10, whereas Patterson, Dalhousie and Mississippi Lakes sit at 30 or more, and have done so for as long as testing has taken place. “Some lakes are naturally higher in phosphorous, than others, even without the impact of human activity,” said Lee.

Increased algae blooms in Sharbot Lake this year have made swimming sometimes unpleasant and even impossible in certain areas of the lake, according to Kevin Browne, an observation that was confirmed by a number of people at the meeting, and that is why phosphorous levels are being looked at.

Susan Lee said that the low water levels and warm weather this year and last would tend to increase the concentration of nutrients and lead to more algae blooms as well in phosphorous enriched lakes.

Kevin Browne also presented the results of a Loon Survey that SLPOA has sponsored. The study showed that loon populations have become increasingly at risk and have declined, possibly due to low water levels and increased boat traffic on the lake. Both of those factors can have a huge impact on loon nests, which are built very close to the water’s edge. Low water levels mean that loons can have trouble reaching their nests and their young, and large boat wakes can often swamp the nests. Statistics from the Loon Survey completed in the east basin by volunteers showed that since 2006 the number of breeding pairs of loons increased from 6 to 14 and the number of chicks went from 1 to 3.

However in 2011 the survey recorded just five breeding pairs with no surviving chicks at all. Browne asked for volunteers to construct loon nesting platforms on the lake and also wanted to see the erection of “NO WAKE” signs for boaters.

On a more positive note, SLPOA president Carol Coupland presented an update of the SLPOA Lake Plan, which aims to provide information to residents and the township to aid the latter in making sustainable development and planning decisions with regard to lake health. The four-year plan aims to gather and analyze data, and Coupland reported it is on track for this year, year one. In year two an action plan with recommendations will be created; in year three, a finalized booklet will be printed of the plan and finally, in year four, a contingency plan will be created.

For more information and upcoming events visit www.slpoa.ca

 

Gord Mountenay from Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) appeared at the request of the township to talk about the dam structure and water management practices that he employs on behalf of MVC on some of the major lakes in North Frontenac. Mazinaw, Shabomeka, Marble, Mississagagon, Big Gull, Kashwakamak, and a host of other lakes within North Frontenac at the upper end of the Mississippi watershed, which feeds Mississippi Lake and eventually the Ottawa river.

Monutenay supervises a draw down of the lakes each fall in order to protect against possible flooding downstream, and then begins to hold back water if necessary in order to bring the lake to a desired elevation for the summer recreational season, which begins this coming weekend. Weighing against these goals are the protection of spawning beds throughout the system.

“With the rain we received last week, it turns out that with the exception of Mississagagon, which is low, the lakes in North Frontenac are now at their target levels for the May long weekend,” said Mountenay.

Earlier in April, he had expressed a concern that the levels were low because of the warm, dry winter, but the rains have come in the meantime.

Councilor Wayne Good asked whether the fall draw down could be minimized in the interest of improving the spawning beds, and Mountenay said the draw down is less now than it had been in the past, but there is still a concern about flooding downstream.

Councilor Gerry Martin asked about the condition of the control dams on a number of lakes, and Mountenay said that most of them are almost 100 years old and will need to be replaced within a few years, but the cost is pretty high.

“We replaced the Mazinaw Lake dam in 1992 and I think it cost about $280,000, so it will take a number of years to put new dams in all the locations that are going to need them,” he said.

Tenders

The township received only one bid for gravel crushing. The bid from Robert E. Young Construction was $66,952.50, which is within the 2012 crushing budget, and the bid was accepted.

The township accepted the bid of $8446 from Sel Warwick for dust suppression on township roads this summer. His was the lower of two bids.

The winter sand contract for wards 2 and 3 went to Crains' Construction for $54,240. Ward 1 sand is provided by Danford Construction for $20,000 in conjunction with them supplying sand to the MTO for Hwy. 41, which brings a cost savings to the township.

Septic reinspection – The township has entered into a contract with the Mississippi-Rideau Septic Office to complete approximately 100 inspections for willing property owners this summer at a cost of $12,000. Based on some comments by Kingston Frontenac Public Health staff, who are the enforcement agency for septic systems, some changes will be made this year in the way the inspections are done.

Building up early in the year. Building permits for a construction value of $1.11 million were taken out as of the end of April, up about $90,000 from the same time last year.