Amid concerns about continued funding from the Province,  and thanks to lobbying by the Federation of Cottage Associations  (FOCA) and its members, FOCA has a signed a new agreement with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks that enables Steenburg Lake Community Association to continue with the Lake Partners Program (LPP)  over the coming five years. We will be out in the next couple of weeks for the latest round of testing.

And… the 2023 & 2024 LPP data has been released and is available digitally! Access our lake's data from links on our webpage:

https://steenburglake.ca/water-sample-archives

The goal of the Lake Partner Program is to better understand and protect the quality of Ontario’s inland lakes by involving citizens in a volunteer-based water quality monitoring program.

Scientific analysis of the samples is conducted at the Inland Waters Section of the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch of the Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP lab).

Samples are tested for total phosphorus, calcium, chloride, sulfate, and water clarity. After careful scientific quality-checking, the dataset is released to the volunteers, the public, researchers and other scientists.

The LPP dataset spans nearly three decades, and can assist in the early detection of changes in the nutrient status and/or the water clarity of the lakes, due to the impacts of shoreline development, climate change and other stresses.