Basics of Assessing Lakeshore Capacity Model

Basics of assessing lakeshore capacity (3.0)

When lakeshore capacity assessment should be considered (3.1)

Lakeshore capacity assessment is a scientifically-established and recommended tool for municipalities to use on a routine basis as part of their ongoing land-use planning process. Triggers to carry out lakeshore capacity assessment may include the following:

• When developing or updating official plans
• If significant improvements to road access to a lake are being considered, or have occurred, increasing the use of residences from seasonal to extended seasonal or permanent
• If development (i.e., new planning approvals) are being considered within 300 metres of a lake or a permanently flowing stream within its watershed¹⁵
• If significant or unusually large amounts of development are proposed for a lake beyond the 300 metre boundary
• If water quality problems (such as elevated levels of phosphorus, loss of water clarity, or algal blooms) are noted
• If lake trout populations are present
• If changes in fisheries have been noted, especially diminishing populations of coldwater species such as lake trout
• If cottagers or year-round residents raise concerns about the effects of development on water quality

What lakeshore capacity assessment will tell you (3.2)

The Lakeshore Capacity Model will estimate a lake’s development capacity and compare its current level of development to this estimate. If the lake hasn't attained its development capacity, the model will also estimate the additional amount of development it can tolerate. This will allow a municipality to decide how many residential and cottage lots, or other uses, should be permitted on the lake. Municipalities with lake trout lakes should note that dissolved oxygen may be a more stringent criterion than phosphorus for limiting development on these lakes to protect fish habitat.

What is needed to carry out a lakeshore capacity assessment? (3.3)

Expertise needed

Resource managers, planners and environmental engineers carrying out lakeshore capacity assessment on inland lakes will require some level of familiarity with environmental resource management, the overall land-use development process, and the Lakeshore Capacity Model. Some municipalities may have staff with this expertise; others won't. Local conservation authorities may have experts on staff that could be of assistance.

Most resource managers, planners and environmental engineers with a basic understanding of aquatic science can be trained to use the Lakeshore Capacity Model in less than a week.

Alternately, there are consultants familiar with lakeshore capacity assessment and the model that could provide municipalities with their expertise.

Information needed

This section provides an overview of the information needed to run the Lakeshore Capacity Model. The minimum information required to run the LCM is:

• Lake name
• Lake latitude and longitude, defined as the point where the outflow leaves the lake (degrees, minutes, seconds)
• Lake area (hectares)
• Local catchment or watershed area¹⁶, excluding both the lake area and the area of any upstream lakes and their watershed(s) (hectares)
• Current shoreline development status of all lots (i.e., the number of cottages and resort units and the nature of their usage: permanent/seasonal/extended seasonal); this information should also include vacant lots of record
• Land-use data for the watershed (i.e., the percent of the watershed that is composed of wetlands, agricultural or urban land use)
• Categorization of the hypolimnion as anoxic or oxic at the end-of-summer (see Technical Bulletin in Appendix C for more information on sampling deepwater oxygen in lakes)
• Observed or measured total phosphorus concentrations to evaluate the model’s performance

If you wish to model oxygen conditions and/or to evaluate lake trout habitat and the effect of development on lake trout habitat, further information is required:

• Detailed morphometric/bathymetric data (areas within each contour interval in hectares)
• Water temperature profiles from August and September to determine the depth of the hypolimnion at the end of summer stratification (metres)
• Dissolved oxygen profiles to evaluate the model’s performance
• Maximum fetch (maximum distance across the lake through the deepest location in kilometres)

Additional information that will improve the accuracy of the model’s predictions includes:

• Detailed site specific information to assess whether there is potential for the long-term attenuation of phosphorus in watershed soils (see Section 5.2 for additional information)

Information sources

The Government of Ontario’s Lakeshore Capacity Model uses input data from sources such as topographic maps, geological maps, fishing maps (e.g., bathymetric maps, aquatic habitat inventory and lake files available from MNR for all significant cottage lakes in the province), MOE's lake files, and additional information that has been built into the model.

Shoreline development is the critical managed parameter. Information can be obtained from the assessment rolls of municipalities, lake residents' associations or direct counts. At a cost, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation can provide assessment data that identify waterfront lots and second-tier development. In areas of the province where they exist, conservation authorities can also be a source of information on water quality in lakes and tributaries.

The following table provides some additional information regarding the possible sources of input data for the Lakeshore Capacity Model:

Table 2: Information on sources of input data for the Lakeshore Capacity Model

Information Required	Source	General Quality of Source
Lake name	MNR, MOE, Municipality, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Gazetteer of Ontario	Good
Lake latitude and longitude	GIS, Web-based mapping programs (e.g., Google Earth)	Good
Lake area	MNR, MOE, GIS	Good
Local catchment or watershed area	MNR, MOE, GIS	Good
Current shoreline development status	Municipal tax roll information	Good
Current shoreline development status	Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)	Good, GIS expertise is required
Current shoreline development status	Municipal Affairs and Housing	Good, where information is available
Current shoreline development status	Cottagers' Associations	Quality and availability varies
Current shoreline development status	Web-based mapping programs	Good, but resolution may vary regionally; usage estimates are not available using this source
Land-use data for the watershed	GIS	Quality varies; percent wetland area values are often underestimated
Land-use data for the watershed	Information that has been verified on the ground by measurement	Good, but requires technical expertise
Categorization of the hypolimnion as oxic or anoxic	MNR, MOE, Municipality	Good if recommended sampling protocols are followed (Appendix C)
Observed or measured total phosphorus concentrations	MNR, MOE, Municipalities, Cottagers' Associations	Good if recommended sampling and analytical protocols are followed (Appendix C). Analysis should be completed by a reputable lab with suitable detection limits for low-level phosphorus concentrations (see Section 6.5)

Implementing lakeshore capacity assessment (3.4)

The Implementation of effective lakeshore capacity assessment will require a coordinated and cooperative approach by the various agencies involved to develop and implement the planning and regulatory tools that are needed. It is expected that implementation will be phased in, in a manner that reflects differing levels of municipal organization and the ability of municipalities to develop or acquire the expertise needed to do the assessment.

Adoption of appropriate policies in official plans and zoning bylaws

It is recommended that municipalities and planning boards update the policies in their official plans to implement lakeshore capacity assessment. Reforms made to the Planning Act in 2007 require municipalities to update their official plan not less frequently than every five years after the plan comes into effect, followed by an update of the accompanying zoning by-law within three years after the new official plan is in effect. These may include policies and standards that identify:

• Water quality objectives required to protect water quality and fish habitat
• Where lakeshore capacity assessments need to be completed and/or lake capacity limits need to be established prior to additional development approvals
• Where lakeshore capacity assessments have been completed and/or lake capacity limits have been established and:
  • Which lakes, if any, have reached their development capacity
  • Which lakes haven't reached their development capacity and what additional application requirements, approval considerations and/or development conditions may be required to protect their water quality and coldwater fish habitats

Where the catchment area of a lake is shared with another planning authority, official plans should establish a mechanism for allocating development capacity in cooperation with the neighbouring jurisdiction(s) to make sure that the water quality objectives of the lake are met.

Establishment of appropriate review mechanisms for new development

All planning authorities that have been delegated or assigned responsibility for the approval of new development through mechanisms such as official plans, official plan amendments, zoning bylaws, severances and subdivision plans should ensure as part of their review that:

• New planning approvals will meet all the policies of the official plan, including water quality objectives
• Where no policies on water quality exist in an official plan, the limits specified in this handbook and the provincial water quality objectives be used as a basis for defining water quality limits
• Where appropriate, a Lakeshore Capacity Model is used and development capacity limits are established
• Development doesn't exceed the capacity of the lake
• Appropriate design and construction conditions are incorporated as conditions of approval to minimize the effect of development on water quality and fish habitat
• All planning decisions shall be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2005)

Modeling, setting capacity limits and allocating development capacity

In reviewing new developments, municipal planning authorities are encouraged to:

• Use the Lakeshore Capacity Model to establish development capacity limits, where necessary
• Set development capacity limits for lakes within their jurisdiction
• Allocate lakeshore development capacity among landowners and developers within the catchment area of a lake
• Cooperate in the allocation of development capacity where the catchment area of a lake is shared with an adjacent planning authority or authorities

Municipalities and planning boards are viewed as the most appropriate level of government to carry out these responsibilities. They're in the best position to identify and set development limits at the local level in the context of other social, economic and environmental considerations. This may require municipalities to train staff, hire consultants or work with conservation authorities to use the Lakeshore Capacity Model, set development capacities and translate them into development potential. Costs for such activities can often be recouped from the applicants as part of the development review process.

Upper-tier municipalities with planning and engineering staff are viewed as having the responsibility and capacity to carry out this role. The Ontario government encourages these jurisdictions to assume responsibility for the entire process of lakeshore capacity planning with some ongoing technical assistance and training from the province.

Planning authorities who make decisions on plans of subdivision, plans of condominium, severance applications or other Planning Act proposals, are expected to make decisions on the suitability of severance applications based on planning direction received from the municipalities or planning boards in which they are located, as well as technical information received from the Province.

Provincial role

The Ontario government, through MOE and MNR, will provide technical support to municipal planning authorities by:

1. Providing educational/outreach materials on the application of the Lakeshore Capacity Model
2. Providing municipalities with existing information on lake trout habitat and lakes at or near development capacity
3. Providing technical advice or support to municipalities on lakeshore capacity assessment, when asked
4. Providing technical advice to municipalities on site-specific applications of the Lakeshore Capacity Model on a limited, short-term basis until the municipalities have fully assumed these responsibilities

In areas with no municipal organization, the Province will continue to apply the Lakeshore Capacity Model and establish lakeshore capacity limits.

Watershed planning

Ecosystem-based watershed planning is used to assess long-term changes and cumulative effects, and overcomes the limitations of administratively-defined planning boundaries. The Ontario government recognizes the watershed as the ecologically meaningful scale for planning. This is a policy of the Provincial Policy Statement (2005) and is consistent with the principles of source water protection.

The PPS (2005) also states that a coordinated, integrated and comprehensive approach should be used when dealing with planning matters which cross municipal boundaries. The watershed is an appropriate arena for this inter-municipal coordination — especially as applied to inland lakes and river systems. Conservation authorities are watershed-based and already provide inter-municipal coordination in various parts of the province.