Canada Geese and Mallard Ducks

It is that time of year again when geese and ducks are looking for a place to nest.  Please be sure to differentiate between migrating species such as grebs, merganzers, buffleheads, and loons who are just stopping to rest for a few hours from the common Canada geese and mallard ducks that we need to […]

Cross Boundary Fire Servicing Agreement

I have had extensive meetings recently with the Fire Chiefs from both Wilmot Township and the City of Waterloo.  They have spent hundreds of hours addressing dozens of issues to ensure the agreement works successfully.  They are continuing to cross-train, plan, and familiarize themselves with our area.  As the weather gets nicer in the Spring […]

Dog Waste

Dog waste that leaches into the ground and water sources is more of an issue than previously realized.  Below is an easy-to-read magazine article talking about the scope and seriousness of the issue.  While there is not much we can do about dog urine (short of banning dogs and outdoor cats which several lake areas […]

Septic Testing Results

The results from our septic soil testing have been received and are provided in the table and Excel file here: We should not jump to conclusions or assumptions based on only one set of soil tests.  Please don’t point fingers at neighbours or assume that you system is fine yet.  We should have multiple tests […]

EcoAction Funding Proposal

Realizing that we need to be doing more than just monitoring and additional research, the Sunfish Lake Association has applied for a $47,400 grant from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to help with the testing and implementation of possible remediation solutions to deal with the increasing levels of nutrients (mainly phosphorus) in our […]

Lake Monitoring and Research

We were extremely lucky in 2017 to be able to engage experts and students from numerous organizations, ministries, and universities to monitor, research and study in-depth our lake and surrounding watershed to better understand the toxic cyanobacteria outbreak we experienced at the end of the summer and well into the autumn of 2016.  While our […]

Sunfish Water Testing and Research

Although ice currently covers Sunfish Lake our cyanobacteria testing and water research has been continuing throughout the autumn and winter. The researchers from the University of Western Ontario wrapped up their daily testing at the end of October and they have been running samples and growing our cyanbacteria, planktothrix, and aquatic fungi in their labs […]

Provincial Greenbelt Expansion

After years of efforts the province has finally announced a proposal to begin the process to expand the Provincial Greenbelt to the Waterloo Moraine, the Paris-Galt Moraine, and other essential hydrological resources facing development pressures around the Greater Toronto Area including Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Dufferin County, Simcoe County, Dufferin County, etc. This could provide […]

Cross Boundary Fire Servicing Agreement

For years we have been working to get fire department coverage for our Sunfish Lake area from the new City of Waterloo full-time fire hall on Columbia Street in addition to the Wilmot Township volunteer fire halls in Baden and New Hamburg. It has been a brutally rough process and taken a dismal amount of […]