3 Lake Description 42 Eventually Into Lake Ontario Via the Trent River

3 Lake Description 42 eventually into Lake Ontario via the Trent River. Map 4 illustrates the bathymetry (underwater depth contours) of Kushog Lake, prepared by MNR for fisheries management purposes. Figure 3 - Gull River Watershed Source: Water Management Program; A Study of the Past, Present and Future of Water Management on the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site of Canada, May 2007 3.2 Water Levels 3.2.1 Background Generally water levels are managed for a variety of reasons, including the following: Water sports and navigation; in our case, the Trent Severn Waterway Producing hydro-electric power Prevention of flooding events Fish and wildlife propagation Municipal water sources KUSHOG LAKE – Past, Present & Future Prepared by The Kushog Lake Property Owners Association, 2011 3 Lake Description 43 The artificial manipulation of lake water levels, to meet human needs, can negatively affect the function of the littoral zone (near shore), shoreline habitat, aquatic species migration, and the magnitude of normal annual flushing of the lake. The fall drawdown exposes the littoral zone to freezing over winter, which may kill dormant or hibernating species essential to the freshwater food chains. The higher summer water Map 5 - Watersheds of the Trent-Severn Waterway Source: Parks Canada levels keep the shoreline area, normally between the maximum and minimum operating (water) levels, submerged, which may eliminate valuable habitat for some plants and animals. However, several species may flourish during the temporary flooding conditions because many of the littoral and shoreline species are adapted to or take advantage of fluctuating water levels, e.g., wetland/shoreline shrubs, reptiles and northern pike. The normal continual flushing of the lake is altered by the summer levels operating curve which may trigger nutrients and pollutants to accumulate rather than being allowed to “flush” or flow out through the system. The dam prevents the required movement of aquatic life between a river and the lake. Water levels are incredibly important, not only for access to water-access only properties, but for fall spawning fish and hibernating reptiles and amphibians. Lake trout spawn in the fall, usually around the second and third week of October (an approximate date which varies depending on local climatic and aquatic conditions and available habitat) on rocky shoals, in the shallow waters – generally about 1 to 2 metres from the shoreline and sometimes in shallower conditions. The eggs are deposited among the rocks and sink down Sherborne Lake Dam 2008 towards the sediment where they are protected between and beneath the rocks and boulders. If KUSHOG LAKE – Past, Present & Future Prepared by The Kushog Lake Property Owners Association, 2011 3 Lake Description 44 the fall drawdown occurs after lake trout spawning, the water levels may be too low, and the deposited eggs suffer from “winter-kill”, which freezes or dehydrates the eggs, because of exposure to cold air and drying winds, or are crushed from the weight of the ice. These risks also impede successful hibernation in the lake or wetland substrate by local turtles, frogs and other reptiles and amphibians close to shore. Research by MNR biologists has examined sections of frozen lake sediments, extracted from known lake trout spawning shoals, and discovered that fish eggs were being destroyed by winter-kill due to drawdown levels scheduled after the fall spawning season was completed. It has been suggested that earlier fall drawdowns, prior to spawning and hibernation, have reduced the negative impacts of large-scale winterkills to the shoreline aquatic community. Kushog Lake is managed so that the drawdown occurs before the lake trout spawn and is subsequently raised to prevent winterkill of the eggs. 3.2.2 Trent-Severn Reservoir Waterway History of the Trent-Severn Reservoir (TSW) Lakes System Construction of the canals and locks began in 1833 to improve transportation of raw materials from isolated regions. But before the waterway was completed 87 years later in 1920, it was already obsolete; railways and highways had usurped its intended role. Instead of commercial traffic, the waterway soon attracted pleasure craft and opened the Kawartha Lakes for cottaging. As of 2010 the TSW (operated by Parks Canada) continues the practice of taking water, even though the reservoir areas have enjoyed tourism and cottage development of their own since the 1940s and 50s. And property owners in these areas find themselves in a frustrating catch-22 situation as a result of the 1905 Order-in-Council [Order in Council, 1905], which split jurisdiction over water and land: if they complain to the province, they are told it is not a provincial matter; if they approach waterway officials, they are informed the federal mandate is limited to navigation on the waterway. The Trent Canal has first claim on the water. Policy History – Over the years, TSW policies have evolved to include a complex number of factors: development in the reservoir areas, flood control, protection of lake trout spawn (or salmonid species), and hydro-electricity generation. Briefly, here’s how the water-level-control policies have worked since 1990: Reservoir lakes are filled to more or less 100% capacity during spring runoff (by mid-May); In mid-May, the drawdown begins. It serves two purposes: ensuring the required minimums on the Trent Canal, and compensating for evaporation (which, in a long dry spell, can rise as high as 50% from the top of the watershed to Lake Ontario); The water is then taken as needed during the navigation season – from Victoria Day weekend until just after Thanksgiving – to guarantee 6-8 ft of depth along the waterway; Throughout the fall the feeder lakes are lowered to designated winter levels to allow for refilling and to prevent floods in the spring; and Water levels of lakes on the waterway remain constant, except for a 3-ft average drawdown in winter to accommodate spring runoff. Trent Severn Waterway Facts – Here are some common facts: In a normal year, the storage depletion rate in the reservoir lakes has been half a percent a day. The end of the season moved from Labour Day to Thanksgiving in the 1980s as seasonal residents extended their cottage use. The goal is to get the lake level to the winter setting before freeze-up; there should be no more than 50% of the storage capacity left in the system by October 1st. The Dams – Before the dams were constructed, normal water levels were 6 to 14 feet lower than they are today. Today’s big lakes were smaller, small lakes were ponds, and rivers might have been no more than creeks prior to flooding and the re-facing of the aquatic landscape created after dam construction. KUSHOG LAKE – Past, Present & Future Prepared by The Kushog Lake Property Owners Association, 2011 3 Lake Description 45 Only during spring run-off when melting snow filled the streams, rivers and lakes to overflowing were the waterways at peak capacity. The water level was not forced up on an extended basis until the arrival of the loggers. The spring run-off provided the cheapest, simplest, and incidentally, the most exciting way of getting the logs to mill and to market. But, as they moved further up the watershed, the loggers had to shepherd the logs over ever- increasing distances. In order to prolong the time available for the drives, they built and maintained a series of timber-crib dams from the top of the watershed to Trenton. The Mossom Boyd Company’s dams raised water levels 7 feet over 80 square miles of Haliburton, enabling them to run logs throughout the ice-free season by storing some of the spring run-off and controlling the release of water. In those days, there was no one here to complain. The First Nations people, who were never listened to anyway, had ceded ownership of the land and were moved away to reserves far to the south and the west. Many settlers were dependent on logging in one way or another for their livelihood; so what was good for the logging companies was good for them. When lumbering declined around the turn of the century, control of these dams passed to the province. In 1873, an agreement was signed in which lumbermen turned over their dams to the Ontario government for one dollar and agreed to pay tolls on timber. In return, the government agreed to maintain the dams and slides. At the time, there were few qualms about taking water from the feeder lakes, since they were virtual wilderness. Lack of ecological knowledge in those days seemed to deter anyone from caring about the wetlands and other natural areas impacted by drawdowns. The new scheme seems to have worked fairly well for about 30 years, by which time logging was coming to an end. But hydroelectric generating stations (both privately and publicly owned) were springing up and placing new demands on the flow of water. So the debate heated up all over again. As a result, the province turned over the dams to the Federal Government in 1905. A 1905 Government of Ontario Order-in-Council advises “that certain dams, canals, and other works on waters tributary to the Trent Valley Canal heretofore constructed and maintained by the Department of Public Works, Ontario, be transferred to the Department of Railways and Canals, Canada, upon the following terms, in order that the said waters and works may be regulated for the purposes of the said Trent Valley Canal.” It is interesting to note that the Buckslide Dam on Kushog Lake and the dam at Twelve Mile Lake are not included in the list of dams on the Gull River waters. 3.2.3 Past and Current Public Involvement Over the years, many people and groups have worked to find an equitable solution to sharing our water.

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