News from your French River Stewardship Council – 2007

Who we are – formed in 2007, we are group of concerned individuals who are actively working to improve the quality of the water in the French River system.

BLUE GREEN ALGEA blooms appeared late in 2007 and represent exactly the kind of situation we must work to control and prevent in the future.

While not a specific topic for our group at the beginning, clearly we must all work to prevent any further contamination to our water. See 2008 activities below.

The testing we did last fall concluded the level of contamination was less than half the lever of what is considered problematic by the Ministry of Health.

See our web site for a complete report from the Ministry of Health on this subject.

WATER SAMPLING was the first priority we undertook to establish and understand the nutrient and phosphorous content of our river.

We have now established what the levels are in 12 locations at 3 separate times, spring, summer and fall.  This will allow us to continue to measure and understand fluctuations of these components.

The 2007 results showed phosphorus loading from Lake Nipissing and in the main channel to be in a normal range.  Of the 12 samples 5 showed an increase in phosphorus levels as we moved from spring to fall samples this is important as seasonally increasing levels may contribute to algae blooms.

These are the contaminants that will promote the growth of harmful plants (such as Blue Green algae) and by better understanding how much and where the access points are – we can communicate what needs to be done to better control our environment.

Special thanks to the Ontario Lake waters program for their support in the testing analysis.

ACTIVITIES include the following;

Continue with the water sampling program to monitor contaminant levels.

Specifically monitor the work being done on Blue Green Algae by various government agencies and communicate information as appropriate.

Complete a land use study and invasive weed survey – results to be posted on the web site.

Hold a public meeting to present the Council structure, elect a Board of Directors, and share information and plans.

Tree planting initiatives.

Spawning beds cleaning and rehabilitation.

MEMBERSHIP continues to grow, but not fast enough.

Membership is the key to any successful organization and your support is critical to ours.

We are working to ensure the quality of YOUR water improves and to ensure we have done everything possible to prevent the water warnings of last fall from repeating.

We welcome the support from the French River Cottagers Association and from and (add name of the other group) as well as many residents.

You can help – join us now – for only $25.00 you get a one year membership and an opportunity to vote for your new Board of Directors.  Group memberships are also available.

For more information on how you can join please visit our web site at   frenchriverstewardship.ca or write to:

The French River Stewardship Council

RR 2, Site 1, Box 21

Alban, ON    P0M 1A0