By Angela Brown

Group helping Jackfish Lake residents improve their water

Apr 15, 2017 | 4:00 PM

A non-profit water-protection organization is encouraging Jackfish Lake area residents and property owners to take a more proactive role in helping improve their lake’s water quality come summer.

North Saskatchewan River Basin Council (NSRBC) manager Katherine Finn, said the organization anticipates holding a meeting with interested property owners in May, to discuss programs the council can assist with to be proactive in reducing the amount of nutrients entering the water stream from the shoreline, as a way to remedy algae growth in the lake.

A major algae bloom last June at Jackfish Lake sent residents looking for answers.

“They were concerned with nutrient loading in the water, where this was coming from and why this was happening,” Finn said.

“There are a lot of questions that are still unanswered. But regardless of that, after a number of meetings, we determined there are a lot of things we can do to make progress.”

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Reducing nutrient loading

The source water protection council plans to support property owners, including Meota and Cochin residents, who want to plant shrubs and other vegetation along the shoreline, in an effort to reduce run-off and act as a filter to protect water quality.

“We hoped to do it on Jackfish Lake. Starting in May we will start engaging with them,” Finn said, adding the group plants trees and shrubs in the fall as part of the program.

“I am looking forward to that quite a bit. It’s one thing to talk about things. But when you have your shovel in the ground and you are doing what you can to improve the shoreline health, that is where the difference come from.”

The organization has applied for program funding, and this being the first year, will consider landowners who are interested in assisting with their shoreline on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“We do the planning, the ordering of the plants, and working with the landowner and planting,” Finn added.

Landowners will be responcible to cover 25 per cent of the cost, which Finn said usually works out to about the cost of the plants themselves.

Last year, the organization met with residents about algae issues, although there were no reports of blue-green algae blooms, which can be toxic.

The water council gave residents some options to improve water quality.

“So far we have decided to make a plan to look at ways to reduce nutrients,” the expert explained. “It’s not an easy fix. You can’t just click a button and change the nutrient composition of a water body and have no algae. It’s all part of the cycle of the lake and the ecology.”

The Ministry of Health operates the Healthy Beach Program, which monitors water quality at specific locations in the province. On a positive note, the Ministry, alongside Prairie North Health Region has no information on file regarding any blue-green algae concerns and there were no do-not-swim advisories issued specifically for Jackfish Lake last year.

Testing

Currently, NSRBC is trying to access funding to complete more water quality monitoring in the months ahead.

According to Saskatchewan Ministry of Health spokesperson Shirley Xie, in 2016 “as is the case during most summers,” the Ministry of Health and the province’s Water Security Agency issued a general blue-green algae advisory to warn the public to avoid swimming or drinking water where blue-green algae blooms were present. Pet owners and livestock producers were also advised to keep their animals away from water where this algae was noticed.

She confirmed the 2017 schedule for water testing at swimming areas in Saskatchewan lakes will be determined in May. This is when organizers will know if Jackfish Lake will be one of the sampling locations.  

Invasive species

Another area of concern for Jackfish Lake property owners is the need to protect the lake from the threat of invasive species.

NSRBC advises residents to be vigilant for zebra and quagga mussels. They have not been found in Jackfish Lake but the organization is always concerned about summer tourism and the possibility of the mussels attaching themselves to residents’ boats coming from outside Saskatchewan, like Manitoba where the species are present.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @battlefordsNOW