Lake Simcoe: It Is Worth Protecting

For decades, Lake Simcoe has served as an important recreational and commercial resource. Besides the more than 350,000 permanent residents, the shores of Lake Simcoe are also home to thousands of cottagers, boaters, anglers, swimmers, and campers. We are fortunate to have abundant water resources, with plentiful groundwater aquifers, countless creeks, streams and rivers, and a beautiful lake: Lake Simcoe. Reserves of freshwater sustain us by providing energy, transportation, food, and recreation. However, due to the demands being placed on Lake Simcoe and the lands that form its drainage basin, the water quality of the lake has deteriorated.

What is the problem?

Impacts associated with continued urbanization and changes in rural land use activities within the Lake Simcoe watershed have been contributing an excessive amount of sediment and nutrients (especially phosphorus) into Lake Simcoe. These activities have contributed to a significant change in the ecosytem health: the lake no longer supports a self-sustaining coldwater fishery, excessive amounts of aquatic plants are choking local beaches, marinas and waterfronts properties, and the recreational industry is being threatened.

Where is the phosphorus coming from?

Phosphorus is a naturally occuring nutrient that all living things need to grow and live a healthy life. However, too much phosphorus contributes to an unhealthy ecosystem.

Currently, more than 100 tonnes of phosphorus enters Lake Simcoe on an annual basis from both urban and rural sources. These sources include stormwater runoff in urban areas, improper manure storage in rural areas, streambank and shorline erosion, faulty septic systems and poor gardening and lawn care practices.

This excessive amount of phosphorus has led to the deterioration we are seeing in Lake Simcoe today. To halt and reverse this deterioration, we need to think in terms of watersheds. We need to look beyond our backyards and consider the impact that our everyday actions have on those who live downstream.

In a sense, we all live downstream: we will all suffer if our waters continue to deteriorate. Each of us needs to take part in this change if we are to avoid a severe environmental crisis in the years ahead. We must replace harmful environmental practices with sound stewardship of natural resources. So be counted among us. This guide will give you ideas about how you can help.

We are accustomed to thinking of water pollution in terms of point sources, specific discharge sites such as an industry's outfall pipe, or a septic treatment plant. Although these sources still pose problems, there has been steady progress over a number of decades in cleaning up these point sources of pollution.

Nonpoint source pollution is quite different. It doesn't originate from a specific "point," like a pipe. Instead, it results from everyday human activities, such as poor gardening and improper lawn care practices, recreational boating, improper septic system maintenance, construction of buildings, and the use and disposal of products in our homes. Nonpoint source pollution includes stormwater runoff from homes, lawns, driveways, roads, parking lot, and agricultural lands. As this runoff progresses through the watershed, it collects sediment and available nutrients from the surface it travels over, carrying them into watercourses, and eventually Lake Simcoe.

Back to An Action Guide to Improving the Waters of Lake Simcoe