The
Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners’ Associations is advocating for
the creation of a county-wide shoreline protection bylaw mandating
naturalized shorelines. 

 

CHA board
chairman Paul MacInnes gave county councillors a detailed presentation
stressing the benefits of natural shorelines during a March 27 meeting. 

“The
lakes are the foundation of Haliburton County,” MacInnes said, noting
that everything the community is built on – cottaging, tourism, real
estate, its jobs – is ultimately tied to its nearly 600 lakes. 

Natural
shorelines – those that are largely untouched, include native plant
species and are free of manmade hazards such as lawns, retaining walls
and docks – have a direct bearing on lake health. They prevent erosion,
provide habitat for wildlife such as fish, frogs, butterflies and
benthics, and filter pollutants such as phosphorous. Phosphorous is
public enemy No. 1 when it comes to lake health in Haliburton County and
is the culprit behind blue-green algae blooms. 

When
large enough, algae blooms not only make lakes unsafe for swimming, but
also, in severe cases, render them effectively dead. 

 

“Water quality in any lake with less than 75 per cent natural shoreline is headed down,” MacInnes said. 

Throughout Haliburton County, 48 per cent of the shoreline is natural. 

“The
question is, how much time do we have?” MacInnes said, adding that
climate change is changing the rules quickly in a way that cannot be
fully understood.  

According to the
Canadian Real Estate Association, one algae bloom on a lake can reduce
property values by as much as 30 per cent, and MacInnes said there are
lakes that have had repeated algae blooms where property values have
declined by as much as half. 

There were
eight reported sightings of algae blooms in Haliburton County last
summer, with one, which later dissipated, confirmed by the MOE in
Algonquin Highlands. 

“We have lakes that are less susceptible and more susceptible to algae blooms,” MacInnes said. 

He’d
done some calculations, and said that if 40 per cent of the lakes in
the county experienced a 30 per cent drop in property values, that would
equate to $732 million in lost assessment. 

 

“You
don’t come to county council unless you have done something to help
yourself, in my mind,” MacInnes said, as he reviewed the host of
programming regarding lake health, septic systems and natural shorelines
the CHA has undertaken during its decade of existence. 

“We can’t reach everybody,” he said, adding that of the 587 lakes in the county, about 100 of them have lake associations. 

MacInnes,
who noted he was preaching to the converted with regard to county
councillors, said new property owners in particular are often unaware of
the negative implications that shoreline alteration has on lake health.
While the county has a tree-cutting bylaw that prohibits the cutting
down of trees within a 30-metre distance of lakes, MacInnes said some
property owners will leave the trees, but remove all of the other,
important, native vegetation from shoreline areas. 

“If
we lose the lakes, we lose our ability to pay for our other
priorities,” MacInnes told councillors, adding, “There are no good
reasons not to do this.” 

 

“You have
given us some stark bits of information,” said Algonquin Highlands
Deputy Mayor and Haliburton County Warden Liz Danielsen. 

Council received MacInnes’s report for information.