The objectives of LOBA’s Environment Committee are:
- To monitor the environmental health of the Lake of Bays watershed – land and water – and to identify threats that could materially affect that health.
- To promote good stewardship practices that will aid in the sustainability and enhancement of the watershed.
- To ensure that Lake of Bays environmental concerns are fairly and accurately represented in decision making by the Township and District.
A major focus of the committee has and continues to be water quality testing. Sampling is done five to seven times per season across approximately 30 sites and analysis is done on physical, chemical and biological indicators to provide comprehensive information on the character of Lake of Bays water. This is a long term project – phosphorous testing has been done on the lake since the 1970’s, bacti testing was started in 2000, phosphorous testing was expanded and refined in 2003 and benthic invertebrate testing began in 2003 – and we have compiled sufficient information to establish a baseline for these indicators that will serve as the standard against which we measure change in water quality going forward. We have put time, effort and money into establishing a testing program that meets the standards being applied by the Ministry of the Environment and the District of Muskoka and our research is being shared with these entities.
Other areas of interest for the Environment Committee are:
- Our two pilot terrestrial plots which track forest health
- Shoreline preservation and rehabilitation
- Wetlands
- Dark skies
- Pits and quarries
