Research

SECOND SCIENCE SOCIAL PLANNED FOR JANUARY 28, TO BE HELD ON ZOOM

Keep posted for more information about this important event.  Contact us at research@scugoglakestewards.com to  receive an invitation to attend. Posted. Jan 10, 2025

WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO? Canada is losing wetland habitat to the #1 invasive plant in Canada … Phragmites grass. This is the gigantic, plumed grass that lines the roadways. It is also invading our shorelines and wetlands.
Unfortunately regular methodologies for fighting this invader CANNOT BE USED near water bodies. Therefore, Ducks Unlimited is sponsoring a study on the use of bio-controls that slowly will reduce its numbers … much like the successful bio-control beetle used to control purple loosestrife in the past. Why not ATTEND OUR PLANNED ZOOM SCIENCE SOCIAL to be held on TUESDAY, JANUARY 28 FROM 7 TO 8:3PM to hear about the tests that are going on in south Durham by researchers from U. of T.
Emails will be sent on January 26th sending Zoom invitations to those who have signed up via:   research@scugoglakestewards.com

 

LAKE STEWARDS’ RESPONSE:  TOWNSHIP OF SCUGOG ADDITIONAL DWELLING UNITS PROPOSAL

December 9, 2024

SCUGOG LAKE STEWARDS INC.

Email: info@scugoglakestewards.com

www.scugoglakestwards.com

December 6, 2024

Subject:  Lake Stewards’ official response to Township of Scugog Additional Dwelling Unit proposal 

Scugog needs affordable residences, … apartments where young people, old people, or those with small or fixed incomes can live.  Allowing and encouraging Additional Dwelling Units within existing properties is the suggested way by the provincial government.

However, the Scugog Lake Stewards would suggest that there must be special provisions in those areas deemed Shoreline Residential and especially within a 100 meter zone from the water edge of the lake or any of its tributaries. This would be to protect Lake Scugog which is already experiencing the negative effects of high levels of annual new and historic phosphorous (P) loading.  This and other circumstances have resulted in proven P levels above Provincial guidelines and periodic blue green algae blooms.

For this reason, it is suggested that septic system re-inspection must occur for homes and properties within 100 meters of the shoreline of Lake Scugog or its tributaries. (using a methodology carried out at this time by Durham Region Health for areas within the Lake Simcoe watershed under the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.)  This simple non-invasive reinspection, carried out every 5 years on a property-owner-pay system, would check for visual problems only, and for illegal greywater connections to the lake but would result in a comprehensive GPS or street by street record system of shoreline properties.

Therefore, the Stewards would suggest that any planned ADU’s within existing housing and within 100 meters from the Lake Scugog shoreline, or the shorelines of its tributaries, must:

  • Provide an additional septic system for this new housing unit including appropriate tank space and leach field in accordance with each being an individual unit with the number of new bedrooms provided. It must be approved by Durham Region health.
  • Apply more rigorous standards in this zone; that only new technology tertiary systems be installed. This would help to prevent additional nutrient loading to the water of our lake and tributaries in order to protect our natural heritage.
  • Provide additional space for a replacement tertiary on-site wastewater system as per current Durham Region Health Regulations and that these regulations remain in place for this zone even if changes are made elsewhere.
  • Adhere to all previous regulations with regard to on-site wastewater system placement: shoreline distancing and buffers, well spacing (including to neighbours), parking spaces and minimum lot sizes.

For new construction or re-construction in Shoreline Residential areas within the 100 meter zone, we suggest:

  • That there be no new non-municipal sewage treatment plants established within the Lake Scugog watershed that discharge treated effluent, even with proven phosphorus and nitrogen reduction capability, into Lake Scugog or its streams and tributaries. This is especially true for housing planned to be on municipal water with wastewater to be handled on-site.
  • That for new or reconstructed houses with planned ADU’s, on-site wastewater systems must be based on the usual sizing for individual housing units, not just the overall bedroom numbers.
  • That all on-site wastewater systems built within the 100 meter zone must be tertiary systems with the usual space and a spare land allocation as well as adhering to all municipal by-laws, and regulations of Durham Region Health.
  • That garden suites not be allowed within that 100 meter zone.
  • In addition, that during the replacement of the leach field and tank with the new that the contaminated soil be trucked off site and not allowed to leach historic contaminants into the lake.

Signed:  Robert Messervey, President

SCUGOG LAKE STEWARDS

December 17, 2024

THE URGENT NEED TO IDENTIFY THRESHOLDS TO USE FOR DECISIONS ABOUT SHORELINE AND RIPARIAN DEVELOPMENT IN FRESHWATER SYSTEMS.

See below for list of authors.

This important paper, co-authored by a wide range of scientific freshwater lake researchers points to the need for management tools by regulators such as municipal councils, the Trent-Severn Waterway, the Ministry of Natural Resources and even the general public to make lake and watershed management decisions. Such tools include in depth well researched, detailed and up-to-date management plans for lakes, tributaries, stormwater, septic system inspection and re-inspection, and general permitting and bylaws.   December 28, 2024

https://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Pieman-et-al-2024-thresholds-for-shoreline-and-riparian-development.pdf

 

NEW RESEARCH BACKS UP EARLIER LAKE SCUGOG STUDIES AND GIVES ADDED DATA

Jennifer B. Korosi, Randelle C. Adano, Pham Ha Phuong Do, Roland I. Hall, Januja Jeyarajah, Emily M. Stewart, Johan A. Wiklund & Joshua R. Thienpont, Ecosystem impacts of an invasive charophyte (Nitellopsis obtusa) interpreted in a multiple stressor context using paleolimnology, Lake and Reservoir Management, https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2024.2330071

New research conducted by Dr. J. Korosi et al. provides support for anecdotal evidence that blue-green algae blooms used to occur in Lake Scugog until the 1990’s then cleared up.  Cores taken from the lake bottom clearly demonstrate differences in the sediment after the dam was installed when the lake was flooded. The cores showed evidence markers of blue-green algae blooms after that time until the 1990’s probably caused by excess nutrients from the rotting of the underlying wetland.   Current day blooms have previously been indicated to be linked to invasion by the plant-like alga, Nitellopsis obtusa or  starry stonewort.  This indication of linkage between the presence of this new invader to microcystis or blue-green algae blooms is a corroboration of earlier research conducted by Dr. Tyler Harrow-Lyle under our three year Trillium Fund grant.

LONG-TERM LAKE ICE DECLINE ON LAKE SCUGOG

Dr. Jennifer Korosi, Dr. Joshua Thienpont, Aniko Gruber, Zahraa Jaafar, Minahill Malik, Marielle Manansala, Divyam Patel, Raha Pishrow, Altrisha Rodrigues, Katherine Tse, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

York University undergraduate students in the Environmental Science program partnered with the Scugog Lake Stewards to investigate lake ice decline on Lake Scugog as part of their senior capstone experience. The Environmental Science Capstone course pairs students with a community partner to tackle a real-world socio-ecological challenge by applying environmental science knowledge and tools. Over the duration of the 12-week term, students researched lake ice decline and its links to climate change, including implications for lake ecosystem health and water quality.

The results of the generalized additive model revealed that ice-off date has been declining since 1971 (R-sq. Adj. = 0.174, deviance explained = 18.7%), and that ice-off now occurs approximately 2 weeks earlier, on average, compared to pre-1970 (Figure 1). This year broke a new record for earliest ice-off, occurring on March 5 compared to the previous record of March 15 in 2012. The trend of earlier ice-off dates fits with the global pattern of lake ice decline described above, due to climate warming.    Ice in, Ice out report, J.Korosi, May ’24

RESEARCH REPORT AS OF THE END OF MARCH, 2024

  1. The Kirkwood Lab. at Ontario Tech. U. and Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority, will be once again out on Lake Scugog and Lake Simcoe this summer conducting surveys to monitor aquatic plants and detect invasive species.  This will be the second year of this study. https://lsrca.on.ca/index.php/home/single-biggest-threat-to-lake-simcoe
  2. We are planning the first of our 3 to 4 pontoon boat exploration trips to start in early June to bring researchers, Board members and citizen science volunteers up to speed about current status of the lake and its macrophytes, take samples and photos.
  3. We are planning our first Science Social: We are inviting Dr. Ian Jones, of the University of Toronto to speak via Zoom to a wide range of invited guests and the public about:  ‘Fighting Canada’s #1 Invasive Species:  Phragmites Grass and its New Biological Control’  on January 28th, 2025 from 7 to 8:30pm. Regular herbicide treatment to control phragmites may not be used near or over water, therefore such a biological reduction program is being studied.  To take part in this Zoom presentation, please send a note to research@scugoglakestewards.com   Actual Zoom invitations will be sent out on January 26.  Dr. Jones studies are funded by Ducks Unlimited and approved by Agriculture and Agrifood Canada.
  4. Ditch management of Phragmites on municipal lands as well as treatment of several other troublesome invasive species is beginning this year.  Unfortunately many of our Scugog roads are either regional, or Minstry of Ontario Transportation responsibility, especially Hwy. 7a at the Causeway. https://www.thestandardnewspaper.ca/post/scugog-tackles-invasive-species-with-new-management-plan
  5. We are researching suitable septic system research methodologies for septic systems within 100m of the lake or its tributaries.  Simple 5 year re-inspections are already carried out by Durham Region Health in areas in the Lake Simcoe watershed part of Scugog.
  6. August is Lake Month, and August 9 is Lake Discovery Day.
  7. We need a volunteer, with a boat, motor and GPS to take part in the Lake Partner Program to go out on the East side of the lake to take water samples once a month from May to September for the long running Lake Partner Program.  All supplies will be provided and shipping costs for samples will be covered by the program.

Resulting previous scientific publications and resources: 

All regarding studies on Lake Scugog, many backed by funds from the Scugog Lake Stewards Research Funds.

  • Kathryn Peiman, Trina Rytwinski, Karen E Smokorowski, Jennifer Lamoureux, Andrea E. Kirkwood, Stephanie Melles, Sarah Rijkenberg, Chantal Vis, Valerie Minelga, Slana Tyner, Meagan Harper, Bret Tregunnow, Jesse C. Vermaire, Colin Rennie and Steven J. Cooke, The urgent need to identify thresholds to use for decisions about shoreline and riparian development in freshwater systems, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Managment Society, December 2024.
  • Erin D. Smith, Andrea E. Kirkwood, Community science to the rescue: capturing water quality data during the COVID-19 pandemic, By monitoring these lakes during the summer of 2020, a large water quality data gap was filled, and new findings about regional nutrient patterns were uncovered. https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10.1139/facets-2023-0004
  • Erin D. Smith, Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2022) Nearshore plankton and macroinvertebrated community structure is strongly associated with macrophyte abundance in a large lake with high shoreline development. Fundamental Applied Limnology 196/1 (2022), Learn More
  • Tyler J Harrow-Lyle, Andrea Kirkwood. (2021) Pervasive changes to the lower aquatic food web following Nitellopsis obtusa establishment in a large, shallow lake, Freshwater Biology.  file:///C:/Users/Barbara/Desktop/GREAT%20%20INFO/Pervasive%20Changes%20to%20the%20lower%20aquatic%20food%20web.pdf
  • Erin D. Smith, Deborah Balika, & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2021). Community science-based monitoring reveals the role of land use scale in driving nearshore water quality in a large, shallow, Canadian lake. https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/10402381.2021.1989525
  • Erin D. Smith, Deborah Balika, & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2020). An assessment of Lake Scugog nearshore water quality and ecological condition (2017-2019). https://scugoglakestewards.com/lake-scugog-research/
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2020). An assessment of Lake Scugog offshore water quality and ecological condition (2017-2019). https://scugoglakestewards.com/lake-scugog-research/
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2020). The invasive macrophyte Nitellopsis obtusa may facilitate the invasive mussel Dreissena polymorpha and Microcystis blooms in a large, shallow lake. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0337
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2021). Low benthic oxygen and high internal phosphorus- loading are strongly associated with the invasive macrophyte Nitellopsis obtusa (starry stonewort) in a large, polymictic lake. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.735509
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2021). An ecological niche model based on a broad calcium-gradient reveals additional habitat preferences of the invasive charophyte Nitellopsis obtusa. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2021.103397
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood.  (2021)  Pervasive changes to the lower aquatic food web following Nitellopsis obtusa establishment in a large, shallow lake, Freshwater Biology.
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood. (2022). The non-native charophyte Nitellopsis obtusa (starry stonewort) influences shifts in macrophyte diversity and community structure in lakes across a geologically heterogeneous landscape, Aquatic Ecology.
  • Tyler J. Harrow-Lyle & Andrea E. Kirkwood (2022), The non-native charophyte Nitellopsis obtusa (starry stonewort) influences shifts in macrophyte diversity and community structure in lakes across a geologically heterogeneous landscape,  Aquatic Ecology.

Additional research to be added soon.