Water Quality in Muskoka

The wetlands, lakes, and rivers of Muskoka are beautiful. Part of what makes them so great is that they are some of the cleanest in the world. As Muskokans, we use them for recreation, fishing, and drinking. We aren't the only beings that use them though; they are vital to the ecosystems of the area. Think of loons, turtles, fish, birds, amphibians, and mammals big, medium, and small who all rely on Muskoka's water.

There are some key organizations and people doing their part to keep Muskoka's water clean. This summer I am volunteering with the Muskoka Lakes Association Water Quality Initiative. The WQI studies how human land-based activities effect the quality of nearshore zone surface water. My job is the analyse the samples that my counterparts collect and report on them. This week, I had a special helper. Drew had helped to collect the samples and wanted to see the next step.

{Drew and I take a look at the coli plates in the incubator. They sepnd 24 hours there before analysis. There is one plate for each of the 6 sample locations from one area of the lake}

{Part of the analysis includes checking for e-coli using a uv light. The e-coli are florescent and we count how many wells in the plate are glowing}

{We also count how many wells have turned blue. This indicates how many coliform are present in that particular sample}

{We record the data and submit it to MLA in order to monitor long term trends. Included in the program is collecting and analysis of e-coli, total coliform levels, total phosphorus concentration, turbidity, and temperature of the lakes}

There are other very comprehensive programs and resources related to water in Muskoka:

• Muskoka Watershed Council: champions watershed health.
• Muskoka Water Web: resources, lake data sheets, District of Muskoka water quality monitoring program, how to protect the water.
• 2010 Freshwater Summit: resources, speaker presentations and videos, petition, communiqués from the Summit and Youth Summit.
• District Municipality of Muskoka: overview and links to year-end reports.
• The Resources section of this blog.

How are you becoming engaged in water quality issues in Muskoka?

Freshwater Summit & Water Issues

The Freshwater Summit was held last week on June 1 and 2. The outcome will be a communiqué policy statement that will presented to all levels of government as well as the Canadian contigent for the G8. There was also a Youth Summit that ran in conjunction where high school students from Muskoka and Orillia drafted their own communiqué.

The main messages from the Summit: "Water is our most valuable resource" and "All citizens must recognize their individual responsibilities in relation to water".

The speakers were Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians; Henry lickers, director of the Department of the Environment for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne; Gord Miller, Ontario Environmental Commissioner; Dr. David Schindler, professor of ecology at the University of Alberta; Dr. John Smol, Canada research chair in environmental change; and Dr. Norm Yan, professor of ecology at York University.

For more information on the speakers, their talks, and the summit go to www.2010freshwatersummit.org

Water is vital to our existance. This means we must all be education about water issues on local and global levels. It also means we must all take actions in water justice issues. It is a big responsibility! There is so much to think about: cleanliness, conservation, scarcity, water as a commons, and water as a human right are just the begining of a long list of water-realted issues.

A great place to start for Muskokans is the Muskoka Water Web at www.muskokawaterweb.ca. It is a phenomenal resource to link to to start getting educated about some of these issues. There, you will also find a link to the 2010 Watershed Report Card that was released in May 2010. It assesses the health of the Muskoka watershed and links to sub-watershed reports.

On a global level, check out www.blueplantproject.net. A fantastic resource for global water issues and what you can do to help. If you will be in Toronto on June 25th, be sure to check out www.canadians.org/g20/event.html to hear more amazing speakers and network about global justice issues.

If you missed the Freshwater Summit or want to re-visit it then stay tuned to TV COGECO during the week of the G8 (June 21-26) for a re-broadcast of the talks. Paul Kennedy from CBC Radio 1 show Ideas will also be compressing the talks into a 2-hour segment on June 24th and 25th.

So much to think about and do! What are you doing??