Dartmouth lakes under siege

DARTMOUTH — Stare into a Dartmouth lake and the community’s identity, its soul, stares back at you.

“If you ask anyone in Dartmouth what the most important part of their community is, many of them will mention a lake,” said Claudia Chender, MLA for Dartmouth South.

Norman Steele, environment chairman for the Portland Estates and Hills Residents Association and vice-president of Oathill Lake Conservation Society, says every Darthmouthian has a lake connection through swimming, skating, boating, owning property there or simply enjoying the beauty of the landscape along the lakes.

Dartmouth’s 23 lakes are unfortunately under siege.

“We quickly realized that many of our lakes are in serious danger from climate change, human activity and a variety of factors,” said Chender, reflecting on her 2017 election along with NDP colleague Susan Leblanc in Dartmouth North.

“What we heard over and over again is just tremendous frustrations from advocates, from community groups, residents who just couldn’t get anyone to really care or address these concerns,” Chender said.

NUTRIENT LOADING

“Something that might have taken thousands or tens of thousands of years, we’re basically making happen in decades because of our land development activities and the way that our stormwater systems have replaced natural wetlands,” Steele said. “We have stormwater systems now that go underneath green areas and directly into the lake. There are no natural processes to treat out sediments, nutrients and harmful pathogens.”

Steele cites a lack of effort to get to the root cause of why the nutrient loading of lakes is allowed to continue to happen.

Leblanc said the quagmire of jurisdictional ambiguity stymies efforts to get anything done.

Leblanc said her understanding of lake jurisdictions is that the municipality is in charge of activities on or around a lake, at beaches and parks.

The provincial jurisdiction is about “the health of a lake,” she said, evidenced by the provincial Environment Department testing Grand Lake water after the recent greenblue algae bloom there proved fatal to two golden retrievers.

The federal government reigns over “what lives in the lake,” fish and other wildlife.

LACK OF ENFORCEMENT

Steele said "sediment and silt shouldn’t be leaving the property" during construction projects.

“You should always look at stopping the source first if there is a contaminant,” he said of the sediment and nutrient dump into lakes. “I believe all the laws and rules are in place but there is a lack of resources or desire or whatever it is to monitor and enforce.”

Steele said he’d like to see developers’ agreements include clauses compelling the developer to mitigate or remediate any environmental damage done.

Developments have removed naturally vegetated areas that would have mitigated storm events and treated overland water flow in a natural way, he said. The natural stormwater treatment has been replaced by water pipes to accelerate the flow of stormwater and nutrients into the lakes.

Steele said developers should be held accountable to mimic the natural environment and divert stormwater into an artificial wetland or retention pond built above or below ground on the developer’s dime.

WEEDS, MORE WEEDS

Lake Banook, in the meantime, has grappled over the past few years with extended periods in which children can’t swim on public beaches and competitive athletes can’t train because of suspected algae blooms. The invasive floating yellow heart weed that Leblanc calls “the goutweed of the lakes” has inundated Little Albro Lake for several summers, convincing Halifax Regional Municipality to initiate a pilot project that applies benthic mats to try to control it.

The municipality also weeds several lakes.

Chenier doesn’t think the municipality or conscientious residents who call about non-compliant developers or neighbours are ultimately responsible to keep lakes healthy.