Water Quality Starts at the Source (Loch Garry 2011)

Our Start:

• 35 concerned citizens approached the Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) in the summer of 2011 to gain a better understanding of lake management issues
• Formed in Fall 2011 to seek methods of controlling the EURASIAN MILFOIL in Loch Garry and the Loch Garry lake system
• Target 200 plus members

Our Research Workshop October 19, 2011

• Water Level Management - History & hydrology of Loch Garry (Roger Houde/Philip Barnes RRCA)
• Eurasian milfoil and Invasive Species – prevention and control of invasive species (Matt Smith, Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters)
• Loch Garry Fish Community – recent sampling and factors influencing fish kills (Anne Bendig, MNR)
• Healthy Shorelines – Best management practices for shoreline landowners (Norm Genier, RRCA)
• Charleston Lake example – Healthy lake planning (Bill Hallam, Charleston Lake Association)

Our Objective:
To improve the quality of the Loch Garry lake system including:

• Improving the water quality resulting in:
  •  Return to normal and life-sustaining oxygen levels
  •  Decreased temperature stratification
  •  Improved odour and taste
  •  Reduced Disinfection By-Products (water treatment)

• Natural recovery of fishing stock
• Return to past levels of swimming, fishing and boating

Our Approach:

• LGLA supports a broad-reaching solution to benefit the Loch Garry lake system including the residents of Alexandria
• LGLA supports a long-term, effective and cost-efficient solution
• LGLA desires to partner with the Township of North Glengarry to facilitate the solution

The Deterioration is not recent

• Loch Garry is: Eutrophic, suffering serious oxygen depletion and rapidly congesting with Eurasian Milfoil. (Dany Boudrias Aquatic Ecologist 2006)**

 
Effects of Eutrophication on Water Users:

• Complaints about taste and odour
• Risk of exposure to potentially toxic organic compounds
• Higher water treatment costs
• Increased plumbing costs
• Diminishes lake holding capacity caused by weed decay

 
Potential solutions are limited:
Mechanical harvesting and herbicides provide short-term control with high economic costs and negative impacts to non-target biota and ecosystems (Newman, R.M. 2004)*

• Harvesting typically increases milfoil growth due to the cut pieces that remain in the water that re-root
• Harvesting and water turbines can be more than $100K
• The use of herbicides, especially in the case of Loch Garry, Middle Lake and Mill Pond could result in an important algae bloom. (Dany Boudrias Aquatic Ecologist 2006)**

Potential Biologic Control Agents:

• The native milfoil weevil is the most extensively researched species and has been used to inoculate milfoil beds throughout the US and recently Ontario and Quebec (Newman, R.M. 2004)
• Milfoil Solution Inc., a Canadian Subsidiary of EnviroScience Inc. has successfully introduced weevils to several lakes in the US and Ontario

Satisfied Customers:

• Cedarville Bay, MI  |  15,500 Weevils 2007-2008
• Puslinch Lake, ON  |  48,500 Weevils 2006-2008
• Sawyer Lake, MI  |  81,000 Weevils 2003-2005
• Lake Bonaparte, NY  |  214,600 Weevils 2002-2008
• Bass Lake, MI  |  37,000 Weevils 2001-2003
• Van Etten Lake, MI  |  130,000 Weevils 2000-2002
• Lake St. Helen, MI  |  78,000 Weevils  1998-2002

Project Plan:

• LGLA recommends the use of weevils to control and potentially eliminate milfoil
• In accordance with the goal to improve overall water quality, weevils to be distributed in both Loch Garry (40,000) and Mill Pond (10,000)

Project Costs:

• First year: $50,950.00 +HST
• Four year range: $144,000-$162,040 +HST

Our Recommendation:

• Township contracts Milfoil Solution Inc. to proceed in 2012 with 50,000 weevils.
• LGLA will use best efforts to raise a minimum $40,000 over four years by grants, individual and corporate donations.
• All money raised will be donated directly to a Township account to qualify for donor tax receipts.

 
Potential Donors:

• LGLA members
• Trillium
• Scotiabank
• RBC Clean Water Program
• Muskie Canada
• Ducks Unlimited
• Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
• Individual and Corporate donation drive including residents of Alexandria

Benefits for Town of Alexandria:

• Better water quality
• Potential reduction in water treatment costs
• Increase in property values 
• Increase in tourism
• Return of aquatic activities 

Benefits for Township: 

Shoreline residents:

• Return of aquatic activities
• Increase in property value at resale

Wildlife:

• Survival and reproduction of sensitive fish species
• Increase in wildlife habitats that milfoil has destroyed
• Increase in natural vegetation

Township must act quickly to protect:

• The source of potable water for the Town of Alexandria
• The only in-land lake system in Ontario east of Ottawa
• Land values in Alexandria and the Township
• Their most important asset

References

• *(Newman, R.M. 2004). Invited review: Biological control of Eurasian water milfoil by aquatic insects):
• **Study of Loch Garry Dany Boudrias, Aquatic Ecologist.2006
• Milfoil Ecology, Control and Implications for Drinking Water Supplies, Wagner, Mitchell, Berg & Gendron, 2008
• Significance of eutrophication in water supply reservoirs, William W. Walker Jr., 1983 American water works Journal