Friends of East Lake launch study on lake’s long-term health

Administrator | Aug 21, 2012 | Comments 0

PEC Mayor Peter Mertens, Prince Edward Hastings MPP Todd Smith and Sandie Sidsworth, member of the Ontario Trillium Foundation grant review team with Friends of East Lake Barbara Wyatt, Carolyn Barton and Linda Cole.

Partners in a stewardship plan for East Lake met at Cherry Valley Wednesday to celebrate a $69,100 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant for a two year study to help ensure long-term health of the lake’s ecosystem, its natural beauty and recreational assets.

“This will be the first comprehensive study carried out on any of the County’s inland lakes, and will lead the way for additional studies on the other lakes in the future,” said Linda Cole, Friends of East Lake president. “This will be an achievement for the community to take pride in. Everyone will have an opportunity to get involved.”

The plan is to include proposed policies for the county’s official plan as well as recommend stewardship actions involving the community.

Cherry Valley founder Alva Stevens (aka Brian Conway) was the event’s emcee.

“The work is just beginning. This is the first step and it’s a step that is critical,” said Mayor Peter Mertens. “We need to pay attention to our environment and to put the effort into protecting what we’ve got so that what people outside and what we ourselves appreciate can continue for years to come.”

“What strikes me about Prince Edward County is the community involvement when it comes to protecting their lakes, their water resources and the land in general,” said Prince Edward Hastings MP, on hand to congratulate the Friends and all the grassroots supporters on the grant.

Gord Rodgers, of French Planning Services, noted the process is as important as the end product.
“The process of getting the community involved means everybody participating and involved in the decisions for this lake to be healthy in the future,” he said. “We hope to engage the residents, the cottagers, the resort owners, campground owners, farm community, retail operators, everybody in the community.”
The first public event will be held Sept 15 at the church hall, he said, to find out the values important to them, the concerns and visions, followed by surveys, workshops and public events over the two years.”

Project partners include the Friends as grant recipient, Quinte Conservation, providing staff and scientific expertise and the municipality, sharing knowledge of local and provincial planning to incorporate recommendations into the process. As a result of this award, the matching funds agreed by Cottage Advisors of Canada in their negotiated settlement with the Friends of East Lake will be made available to assist with the study.

“Over the past four years we have collected a lot of data on East Lake,” said Terry Murphy, of Quinte Conservation. “So often people misinterpret and think ‘why are we doing studies, is there something wrong?’. The first step is to find out what is the state of the lake. We think it’s good. When we find out it’s good, the second step is how do we keep it that way?”

“Congratulations to the Friends of East Lake and their partners in this project,” said Todd Smith, MPP Prince Edward-Hastings. “It is great to see this investment being made to both ensure the community’s safety as well as preserving the local habitat and ecosystem.”

Friends of East Lake was formed in 2006 “to monitor the natural habitat, rural lifestyle, and native inland fisheries of East Lake and its watershed and to ensure their preservation for future generations through proper zoning bylaws, environmental protection, measurements of water and air quality, balanced sustainable development, restoration and conservation.”