Chapter 2: Building on Past Actions

Cooperative efforts and actions by watershed partners already started to bring about improvements in the health of Lake Simcoe. For example, levels of dissolved oxygen in the bottom waters of the lake have increased and there is some evidence of natural reproduction in the coldwater fish community.

There have been longstanding partnership efforts to protect the health of Lake Simcoe; some of these are described below.

Lake Simcoe Environmental Management Strategy (LSEMS)

The LSEMS program began in 1990 with the goal of restoring a self-sustaining coldwater fishery in Lake Simcoe by improving water quality. It was a multi-agency partnership involving the MOE, the MNR, the MAFRA, the MMAH, the MEI and the LSRCA. More recently watershed municipalities, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada had joined the partnership. The LSRCA chaired the partnership.

The LSEMS program focused mainly on controlling and reducing phosphorus inputs to Lake Simcoe in three major phases of the program:

  • In Phase I (1990-1995), LSEMS was successful in reducing phosphorus levels entering the lake from more than 100 tonnes per year to an average of 67 tonnes per year.
  • Phase II (1996-2001) included the completion of 55 water quality improvement projects, a 2.5 metric tonne reduction in the annual phosphorus loading to Lake Simcoe, completion of a hydrologic mass balance for the Lake and the completion of a Total Water Quality Study examining the benefits of phosphorus control measures.
  • Phase III (2002-2008) was the final phase and it saw completion of a State of the Lake Simcoe Watershed (2003) report which provides an overview of existing conditions (e.g., geology, natural heritage, water and air quality, fisheries, etc.) and a Lake Simcoe Basin Wide Report (2008) that described actions being taken to protect and restore the basin and to identify emerging issues in the Lake Simcoe watershed.

Some of the research compiled through LSEMS was synthesized and adopted by the Lake Simcoe Science Advisory Committee and informs the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.

Intergovernmental Action Plan (2006)

To address common interests in environmental protection, development certainty, and effective and sustainable governance, the Province partnered with the 19 municipalities in Simcoe County, including Barrie and Orillia, to produce the Intergovernmental Action Plan (IGAP).

Agricultural and Community Actions

Farmers in the Lake Simcoe watershed have made significant progress toward using improved agricultural practices and technologies. These include buffer strip creation along riparian areas, improved manure storage facilities and technologically advanced cropping systems. Some of this work has been accomplished by individual farmers on their own, and some has been done through formal stewardship programs such as the Environmental Farm Plan Program, the Lake Simcoe Water Quality Improvement Program, the Ontario Stewardship Program and a range of local, provincial, and federal-provincial cost-share programs.

In other areas of the watershed, rural landowners, community groups and individuals have participated in a variety of stewardship, education and outreach programs that have reduced stream-bank erosion, improved fish habitat, increased natural cover and encouraged sustainable actions throughout the watershed.

Assimilative Capacity Study for Lake Simcoe

One of the key initiatives of the IGAP was the Assimilative Capacity Study (ACS) for the Lake Simcoe watershed. The ACS was developed in collaboration with federal, provincial, municipalities, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, and other stakeholders.

The ACS produced a modelling tool to inform decision-makers of the potential impacts of existing and planned land use activities on water quality. The ACS also developed a process for establishing subwatershed loading targets.

Provincial support for agricultural and community initiatives

  • The Province has provided financial and technical support to agricultural and community initiatives through the Environmental Farm Plan, the Lake Simcoe Farm Stewardship Initiative, the Community Fisheries and Wildlife Involvement Program, the Managed Forest and Conservation Land Tax Incentive Programs, the Ontario Stewardship Program and other conservation and green community programs.
  • Through the Ontario Stewardship program, the Province provides support to county-based stewardship councils that represent the broad- base of landowner and community interests in their areas. The Province facilitates partnerships and levers financial and in-kind resources for a wide variety of stewardship, education and outreach projects.

Municipalities

Municipalities have made significant investments that have had a positive impact on the lake. These include sewage treatment plant upgrades, stormwater management retrofits, aquatic habitat improvement and septic system decommissioning, investments in stewardship programs and supporting the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority among others.

Municipal phosphorus reductions

Under the Lake Simcoe Water Quality Improvement Program, municipalities have reduced phosphorus inputs by:

  • replacing inadequate private septic systems;
  • retrofitting stormwater ponds;
  • undertaking stream bank erosion control projects;
  • inspecting sewage treatment facilities regularly and reporting effluent concentrations monthly;
  • decommissioning 2,200 septic systems along the Lake Simcoe shoreline

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA)

Conservation Authorities are local, community-based environmental agencies. They represent a grouping of municipalities on a watershed basis and work in partnership with others to manage their respective watersheds. The Conservation Authorities Act provides the means by which the province and municipalities of Ontario could join together to form a Conservation Authority within a specific area.

The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan builds on the ongoing work of the LSRCA and the LSRCA will continue to be a key partner in the implementation of the Plan and protection of the watershed. The LSRCA’s mission is to provide leadership in the restoration and protection of the environmental health and quality of Lake Simcoe and its watershed with community, municipal and other government partners.

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority

The LSRCA has led improved stormwater management strategies for major municipalities around the lake. As a result, since 2000, all new developments around the lake have met or exceeded the highest provincial environmental design standards for stormwater management.

Federal Government

The federal government also has a presence in the watershed through its existing departments. Parks Canada is an example of how different levels of the federal government continue to protect and manage the lake’s ecosystem. Lake Simcoe is part of the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The federal government established a Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund which supports reductions in the amount of phosphorus inputs, rehabilitating priority habitats, restoring the coldwater fishery, and improving scientific understanding for decision-making.

Lake Simcoe Advisory Committees

The Lake Simcoe Science Advisory Committee was appointed in February 2008 to advise the Province on how best to protect and improve the Lake Simcoe watershed ecosystem to guide the development of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. The committee provided valuable scientific advice on the state of the lake and its watershed, pressures on the system now and in the future, identification of ecosystem features that need protection and on appropriate management methods and a monitoring plan to support the protection strategy.

In May 2008, the Province appointed a Lake Simcoe Stakeholder Advisory Committee to gain input from the wide range of interests around Lake Simcoe. The committee included representatives from: LSRCA, First Nations, municipalities, farmers and the agricultural sector, tourism, fisheries, business, developers, residents, cottagers and environmentalists. The committee provided valuable input and advice to the government on the development of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.

These two advisory committees will be replaced by a Lake Simcoe Coordinating Committee and a Lake Simcoe Science Committee, described in Chapter 8: Implementation.