Three Mile Lake Causation Study
Muskoka's residents and District Council care about water quality. This important topic impacts the environment, economy, and desirability of the District as both a place to call home and a destination. In an effort to enhance water quality and resident/visitor experience in Muskoka, the District is undertaking causation studies on lakes considered as vulnerable from a water quality perspective. One of these causation studies will be on Three Mile Lake.
Three Mile Lake is 8.66 km2 in size and is located in the Township of Muskoka Lakes. Most recently, Three Mile Lake experienced two blue-green algae blooms in 2020, the first located at the east end of the main basin and the second in the north-western end of the lake. These blooms were confirmed by the Ministry of environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) on August 13, 2020 and August 27th, 2020, respectively. Three Mile lake also experienced a blue-green algae bloom in 2019 which was confirmed on August 27, 2019. This led to the lake being classified as vulnerable in Schedule E2 of the Muskoka Official Plan (MOP). As outlined in the MOP, when a lake is listed as vulnerable, a waterbody-wide causation study should be initiated to determine the causes and relative contributing factors which lead to the identified water quality indicator, as well as to produce recommendations and mitigative actions that can be taken by stakeholders, the District, and others to ensure water quality may be enhanced in the long-term.
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