The Steenburg Lake Community Association (SLCA) continues to make inquiries about any impact on the lake’s ecosystem that might result from the August 10 beaver dam breach.

The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) does not do water testing when the incident is a natural occurrence such as the breach of a beaver dam. It has however suggested some tests we can do — our lake steward Alastair Gorman is looking into that.

Given it’s been nearly two weeks since the breach, the MOE says the water released into the lake will have been diluted by the vast volume of water in the lake. Testing done now could provide a baseline against which to compare future tests.

If you use the lake for drinking water and are concerned about its quality, the MOE suggests you continue your regular water testing and include bacteria, Giardia, nitrate and methylmercury.

As recommended by the MOE, the SLCA will reach out to the Ministry of Natural Resources to discuss impacts on the fish population.

I’m also waiting for input from the Federation of Ontario Cottage Associations (FOCA).

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Did you know? The water renewal rate for lake flushing in Steenburg Lake is estimated to be about 2.2 years. This means that taking into account all the inputs from streams, precipitation and snow melt the entire volume of water in the lake would exit via Bass Creek over two years.