Healthy, Connected Forests
Today we have almost enough forests and wetlands to buffer the watershed from the impacts of climate change and the stress of phosphorus pollution. But we are losing, not gaining, forests and wetlands.
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Why Rescue Lake Simcoe?
The lake and the watershed’s wild inhabitants need clean water, forests, wetlands and streams to stay healthy. We benefit too from a clean environment and swimmable water.
What’s wrong?
Too much of the nutrient Phosphorus reaches the watershed’s streams, and the lake itself. This can cause excessive algae, weeds, and is the trigger for low oxygen levels in the lake’s deep water, which harms fish. There are many sources of Phosphorus and consequently, there are lots of solutions. The efforts made to improve the lake’s health are paying off, but the threats remain.
What does the Lake Need?
A sustained and coordinated effort. We need to bring down phosphorus from all of its sources, protect forests and wetlands, curb the spread of invasive species, and reduce the impacts of development.
Improved Water Quality
Development pressures on the watershed are huge, and where development and urbanization occur, lower water quality tends to result. Urban runoff called stormwater is the largest source of Phosphorus to Lake Simcoe, at 31% of the annual load.
Science and Policy
The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan is one of the policies that help steer our actions in the right direction. Its science-based targets drive municipalities, farmers, individuals, developers, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and others toward the Plan’s objective of protecting, improving or restoring the ecological health of the Lake Simcoe watershed.
Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition Blog Posts
Barillia Beach Park Association makes shoreline improvements look easy, because it is
If you lament that you want to improve Lake Simcoe’s health but don’t know how, then read this pick me up! Barrillia Park Beach Association in Oro-Medonte, on the north shore of Lake Simcoe, recently applied for and was granted…
Identifying priority lands for protection in Simcoe County
Through the summer of 2019, the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition undertook an important project: to map the parts of Simcoe County’s landscape that are protected, highlight vulnerabilities, and make recommendations on how to further protect them for future generations, with…
POP! Protect Our Plan in the 2019 Review of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan
When the Lake Simcoe Protection Act was passed in 2008, the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, its member groups, Environmental Defense, and Ontario Nature celebrated the passage of the best watershed-based legislation in Canada. Ten years later, the Province is getting…