Bluewater Shoreline Residents' Association

NEWSLETTER — July, 2004

This Newsletter is produced and distributed by the Bluewater Shoreline Residents’ Association (BSRA), an umbrella group of residents/beach/cottage/subdivision associations, as a service to the shoreline residents in Hay West and Stanley West Wards. It is funded by the Member Associations and its Associate Members. For information on membership, please contact the Membership Secretary, Jim Chapman, at (519) 235-1644 or (519) 565-5303, or by e-mail. BSRA’s Postal address is BSRA, GMB #411, RR 2, Zurich ON N0M 2T0. BSRA’s web site is www.bsra.ca , and its e-mail address is Click here for contact email address.

This is to remind you about the BSRA Annual Meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2004 at St. Peter’s Church Hall on Highway 21 North of St. Joseph. Please mark your calendar now so that you can plan to attend. Although only the official delegates may vote, all residents of the shoreline wards of Stanley West and Hay West in Bluewater are invited to attend and participate.

Many Thanks to the Volunteers who Distribute this Newsletter

The effectiveness of this Newsletter in reaching the Shoreline Residents of Bluewater depends on the many volunteers who distribute this information to the residents in about 50 Shoreline subdivisions, and our great appreciation goes out to them for their continued efforts. This Newsletter, originally published only for Stanley Township Shoreline residents in 1991, has carried many items of interest and concern as it tries to be of service to the shoreline community. While our website is able to provide more information, and faster, only a limited number of shoreline residents are on the web, and so there still seems to be a place for the Newsletter. Thanks again to those who make its usefulness possible!

Water Quality Remains an Important Issue for Shoreline Residents

Shoreline Residents will recall that BSRA funded a study of water quality along the Bluewater shoreline in 2003, the principal result of which was to determine from the evidence that the primary source of Lake Huron water pollution comes from the ravines along the lake. You can examine the test results for 2003 (and 2004 to date) on BSRA’s website.

It was concluded that special attention needed to be paid to ravine water as it not only drains fields and some livestock operations, but in the case of St. Joseph’s Shores, the ravine also drains the Zurich sewage lagoons when water is released and when very heavy rains cause overflows. The problem is at least two-fold.

First, the ravine water is carried into Lake Huron during sufficiently heavy rainfalls together with silt and clay particles from the land runoff. This adds any pathogens already in the ravine water to the lake water, and also provides soil particles which may trap the pathogens as they settle out of the muddy water brought to the Lake. Furthermore, it brings fertilizer and pesticide chemicals in the field runoff to the lake, as well as antibiotic and other residues from animal manure if these are used in a livestock operation, and if the manure spread on fields. Second, the ravine waters tend to be warmed by the sun and to be without waves, two conditions very attractive to children when the Lake is cold or rough. Unfortunately, they do not realize the dangers, and oftentimes their parents don’t realize them either.

The BSRA Environment Committee considered this problem, and has proposed that warning signs be posted at the mouths of offending ravines so that at least a warning will be given at the point where parents and children “need to know.” Not only does the sign post a needed warning, directed at the health of children in particular, but it also provides information for those who may be guests, renters or casual visitors to the beach. A sample sign was prepared, and is shown at left. It is in red and white to attract attention as a warning.

You will note that the initial warning is brief and to the point, “Do not play”, and includes the key words, “unsafe”, bacteria(l)” and “pollution”. It is expected to be fairly effective in communi-cating its message about potentially dangerous ravine water, as well as a more subtle message about one of the more obvious sources of pollution in Lake Huron, its ravines. One of the Bluewater Shoreline Communities has already purchased signs for its two ravines, and they should be posted by the time you read this.

Water Quality Studies in 2004

Having shown the nature of the problem by its 2003 studies, the studies in 2004 are to be focussed on only one ravine, that at St. Joseph Shores, which has the longest history of studies. The current work is to focus on identifying various bacteria along that ravine course in order to build a “library” of DNA samples from various locations along the watercourse, so that organisms that reach the mouth of the ravine can be identified as to their sources. BSRA was able to persuade the Bluewater Council to assist by funding this initiative, and GAP EnviroMicrobial Services has been contracted to carry out the DNA testing according to a newer methodology that should prove very effective in identification. Everyone is looking forward to the results of this initiative. To oversee this research, a committee has been formed which includes Members of Bluewater Council as well as others.

Testing for Escherichia coliforms (E. coli), as bacteria that indicate the presence of other pathogens, has been continued, with some shocking results. You may recall that test results of over 100 indicate that there is a problem. Last year one of the ravines had a test result of 4000, which was considered to be so high that it might be a false reading. The highest readings taken in the ravines being studied during the summer of 2003 were 1000, 1200, 1400, 1400,2100 and the 4000 already mentioned. These were considered shocking until the 2004 results in only the first few weeks showed the higher results to be 1140, 1400, 1500, 1500, 1620, 1710, 2000, 2500, 4100, 4400, 6900, 9400, and an astounding 29800, or 298 times the “safe” limit. (There is no tangible evidence to link this last result with the pig farm that is 3 km upstream from the test site.) Even when examined by inspection only, and not using mathematical analyses, it is obvious that the general results are much higher than in 2003. You may check the results on the BSRA website, bsra.ca for your own information.

As mentioned above, a steering committee has been established, and met on July 21 to establish the mandate of the project. They decided on 5 priorities. 1. Conduct the water testing program to monitor e-coli and DNA testing to identify the sources of e-coli in the ravine; 2. Develop a community-based action plan to deal with water quality issues in the ravine; 3. Develop an action plan around a septic system inspection program; 4. Develop an action plan in conjunction with the upgrades to the Zurich sewage lagoons; and 5. Assemble the scientific data collected to lobby senior levels of government for funding to clean up the St. Josephs ravine. We Look forward to seeing these plans resulting inaction.

As noted above, there can be some seriously high levels of pathogens, (disease-causing organisms), in the Lake, and as also noted above, weather conditions affect the relative health of those using the Lake for recreation. While testing shows some quantifiable results, it must always be remembered that by the time the test samples are even tested, let alone when the results are published one or two days or more after the testing, the results are out of date, and are most likely different from the current circumstances. No one should rely on published test results to make a decision about going into the Lake! You must always look at the Lake in a knowledgeable way before making a decision.

Remember that pathogens are brought to the lake by rainwater, and so if there has been a recent rain, avoid going into the Lake. You can tell if the Lake has been affected by rainfall by the brownish colour of the Lake near shore. This is likely runoff from fields and the consequent emptying out of ravine water, likely carrying pathogens into the Lake. When the soil particles settle out and the water clears, many of the pathogens become trapped under the soil particles. These are only released when strong winds create wave action which pounds on the shore, loosens the soil particles and releases the trapped pathogens into the water. This is a problem because of the longevity of some pathogens. An additional problem is the presence of some whitish “blobs” in the Lake from time to time, especially since the sources of this obvious pollution have not been identified, nor has the nature of the pollution been identified. If you see a “blob”, call the Huron Health Unit.

The best way to decide how safe the Lake water is, is to check its turbidity (cloudiness). Scientists use a Secchi disk, one with the quarters of its surface in alternating black and white, and measure how deep the disk can still be seen. A simple test is to wade into the relatively calm Lake up to an adult’s knees, and if you can see your toes, the water is likely without too many pathogens. But remember, make your decision on how you find the lake when you want to enjoy it, not on what it was like 2 or 3 days ago or more! (As experienced shoreline residents know, the Lake can change very much very quickly, both for the better and for the worse.) If you follow this advice, you and yours will be able to enjoy the Lake much of the Summer, and remain healthy.

You will recall that for many years, it was the practice to dispose of septage (septic tank waste) by spreading it in a controlled manner on farm fields. The conditions and the particular fields to be used were closely regulated. Some time following the Walkerton incident, the Ontario government decreed that by the end of a five year period there would be no more septage disposal on farm fields, and Winter disposal was halted immediately. This means that new ways must be developed for septage disposal.

An obvious solution might be to dispose of septage in sewage processing plants or in sewage lagoons. The big problem is that septage is a very concentrated form of sewage, because while the solids settle out in the septic tank, the liquids drain off into the tile bed and are filtered through the soil, and absorbed into the water table. Thus, processing plants and lagoons are not designed to handle septage, and introducing septage into one of those systems will overload it so that neither the septage nor the sewage will be properly processed, and the outflow from the plant or the lagoons may very well contain pathogens in the incompletely processed effluent, and thus be another source for pathogens in the Lake.

Because most present sewage treatment processes were not designed to take septage, it will only be through the development of septage treatment processes, or construction of much larger processing facilities that septage can be processed in the future. The Provincial government, which established the new controls on septage disposal, did not, at the same time, establish funding for facilities to dispose of septage. Thus, in about three years time, shoreline residents as well as all other septic tank users, may find that the cost of septage collection will skyrocket, and/or many septic tank owners will have to turn to dry toilet systems or other means of disposing of their waste on their own. Although this is a dormant problem now, in three short years the problem may drastically erupt into a major issue without proper planning for the event at all levels.

Once again, to avoid future septic tank problems, the wise shoreline resident will be thrifty with household water use, if not downright stingy, and will seek practices that will save water, and thus prolong the usefulness of the septic systems that are so vital to living along the shoreline, as well as inland.

This is just a reminder that items for disposal can include, but are not limited to, paint, solvents, pesticides, cleaning fluids, etc. Two collections are planned. The first one is on August 28 in Goderich at the Public Works Yard, and the second one is on September 11 in Exeter at its Public Works Yard.

The process of generating change involves a lot of public education, through which people become knowledgeable to make decisions. Thus, there have been a number of conferences of interest to shoreline residents over the years, and the recent conference of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation in Port Elgin provided considerable information. Closer to Bluewater, a conference sponsored by BSRA together with the Ashfield Colborne Wawanosh Lakefront Association and the Friends of the Bayfield River, (a group calling itself the Huron County Lakefront Alliance), will be held in Goderich Arena from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on August 14. You should have received a flyer on this conference with this newsletter for details. If you did not, contact bsra.ca for more information.