2007 Background Reports ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Muskoka Watersheds Report Card is based on current science and local monitoring programs. It would be impossible to recognize all the technical experts who have willingly provided their input and assistance but we are grateful to all of them. Without their knowledge and expertise, it would not have been possible to complete this project. In particular, we would like to acknowledge our provincial and federal partners. The staff of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment were essential in providing data and guidance. The Trillium Foundation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provided the funding for the Muskoka Inventory Project, without which we could not have completed the land component of the Report Card. It is through working together that we will all be able to protect the health of the watersheds that we all love and enjoy. 2007 MUSKOKA WATERSHEDS REPORT CARD TABLE OF CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR....................................................................................... 2 KEY MESSAGES............................................................................................................ 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………….4 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 8 WATER ......................................................................................................................... 10 AIR ................................................................................................................................ 28 LAND............................................................................................................................. 41 CLIMATE....................................................................................................................... 64 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 75 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................. 81 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR As we increase our understanding of the health of our watersheds and the factors that impact on their condition, we have more questions than answers. Increasing amounts of research and analysis provide more detailed perspectives, revealing more complex relationships than previously appreciated. For example, the recently completed Muskoka Strengthen Nature’s Inventory Project provides new insights into the current condition of our land and its Capacity to Cope with contributions to the overall health of the watershed. Change A watershed is defined as the land area that drains into a particular body of water, such as a lake or a river, and includes all the natural and human communities found there. The report Card looks at the health of the Muskoka and Black/Severn River Watersheds that flow from Algonquin Park through Muskoka, Haliburton, Simcoe, and Parry Sound into Georgian Bay. For over two decades, measures of the health of the watersheds of Muskoka focused on the quality of the water in lakes and rivers. A more recent and broader view of watershed health considers not only the state of the water, but the quality of surrounding terrestrial and aquatic habitats such as forests and wetlands, and the air in which they function. The following sections on Land, Air and Water detail various indicators of watershed health. Recent thought challenges us to understand the importance of the local, regional and global interconnectedness of the natural systems. While natural evolutionary change occurs When one tugs at a regardless of human activity, people cause other kinds of change. At a global we’re seeing single thing in nature, the effects of climate change, acid deposition , and exotic species. At the local level we see changes to natural habitats resulting from forestry practices and the way that development is he finds it attached to influenced and controlled. the rest of the world. The primary objective of the 2007 Watershed Report Card is to evaluate change in John Muir ecosystem condition and the impact of human actions against a standard of a healthy, functioning and sustainable watershed. The best insurance against loss of the natural, scenic, economic and intrinsic watershed values that are important to the people of Muskoka is to maintain our watersheds in as natural a condition as possible, buffering whatever stresses they face now and in the future. Several recent studies confirm that protecting, maintaining and enhancing the health and the diversity of ecosystems is essential to long-term sustainability of watersheds that will be threatened by the changing climate. Simply put, as a community, we will need to strengthen nature’s ability to cope with change. How is this best accomplished? The 2007 Report Card focuses on four primary dimensions of watershed health where we can make a difference: water, air, land and climate. The Report Card provides the foundation for an initial consideration of the key messages outlined below and described in detail in the following chapters. Deb CummiCummingngngng Chair KEY MESSAGES Strengthen Nature’s Capacity to Cope with Change ö Reduce habitat fragmentation ö Maintain large undisturbed natural areas ö Contain urban sprawl ö Remediate degraded land and water resources ö Reduce hardened surfaces ö Protect natural vegetation along shorelines ö Protect significant wetlands ö Reduce carbon emissions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The report card takes an ecosystem approach to the analysis of watershed health An ecosystem is a unit of the living part of the world (Biosphere) e.g. pond, lake, forest, meadow, biome region e.g. great lakes forest. These units can be very small or very large. They all have living (e.g. ferns and frog) and non-living (e.g. water, soil, air) parts and they all have the sun as their source of energy. Energy moves through the ecosystem through food An ecosystem is a chains from plants (producers) to animals (consumers) to decomposers in a one-way flow. However, ecosystems all cycle or recycle nutrients e.g. phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon unit of the living part etc. All of this goes on in a kind of fluctuating balance (dynamic equilibrium). of the world e.g. pond, lake, forest, In the report card, the Muskoka and Black/Severn River watersheds are large ecosystems. meadow Inside these large ecosystem are a number of smaller ecosystems: ponds, wetlands, softwood forests, hardwood forests, meadows, lakes, streams, barrens, edge habitats between forest and field each merging into the next. This report card reflects the health and balance that exists in our watershed ecosystems. Water As people live and work around lakes, rivers and streams, they impact and change those ecosystems. Some changes may be beneficial and others may degrade the natural systems upon which both humans and other species rely. This report uses a variety of indicators to Maintain natural identify present and potential stresses on lake systems and evaluates the health of both watersheds water used for recreation and the water we drink. Our waterbodies are generally in good to very good condition for recreational use. However, our lakes are changing and scientists do not completely understand the processes that are currently occurring. Natural events and behaviours are becoming less predictable and long- term trends are not as well understood as they were previously. It appears that some indices suggest improvement while others indicate deterioration. It is generally agreed that climate change is affecting natural processes, and that intact natural systems will be critical in adapting to projected changes in climate. Prepare and implement Phosphorus is the nutrient that controls the growth of algae in most Ontario lakes. For this remedial action plans reason, a change in phosphorus concentration in a lake impacts the types of algae that live in the lake and the potential for algae blooms. Algae blooms detract from recreational water for all lakes considered quality and in some cases affect the habitat of coldwater fish species such as lake trout. Over Threshold The long-term objective is to maintain natural levels of phosphorus. Although there has been a gradual increase in long-term phosphorus over the undeveloped standard, improvement is occurring and over the last twenty years, phosphorus in over 60% of the lakes in Muskoka has remained constant or has decreased. Protect natural Shorelines vegetation protects waterbodies from nutrients and toxic chemicals that can be vegetation along carried into the lake and contribute to water quality issues. Native vegetation is an important component of a lake system and provides habitat, stormwater management, water shorelines. purification and visual beauty. Naturally vegetated yard-areas between the residence and the water strengthen nature’s capacity to resist stress, as do increased set backs for both buildings and septic systems. Protect sources of The protection of both private and municipal sources of water is essential to maintaining drinking water good drinking water supplies. In order to have a drinking water problem, there must be a source of contamination. With few exceptions, neither public nor private drinking water sources within our watersheds are subject to significant threats or possible sources of contamination. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Air The watersheds of interest to the Muskoka