May 2023 Newsletter
https://bit.ly/KWEFMay2023Newsletter
Included in this issue:
Testing your Well Water
Annual Spring Clean-up
Wake Awareness
Testing your Well Water
For many of you, May is the time to open up your cottage. If it has been a few months since you have used your well water, it may be a good idea to test your water prior to drinking it. In our area, the closest towns to pick up and drop off water sample bottles are Burk’s Falls and Huntsville.
Further information on where to pick up and when to drop off water sample bottles, and how to get your results can be found by following these links:
Burk’s Falls, (North Bay Parry Sound Health District): https://www.myhealthunit.ca/en/public-health-services/private-drinking-water-testing.aspx#Sample-bottle-pick-up-and-drop-off-locations
Huntsville, (Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit): https://www.simcoemuskokahealth.org/Topics/SafeWater/drinkingwater/wells/watersample.aspx
Our website, www.kwef.ca has a wealth of information regarding wells, including how to protect and clean your well: https://www.kwef.ca/resources/care-of-septic-wells.
Annual Spring Clean-up
Early in May, we sent out a notification regarding the annual “Ditch Cleaning” event of litter pick-up, organized in collaboration with the Kearney Lions Club.
For those of you who could not participate in that event, we encourage you to do some litter pick-up in your area, along our trails and roadsides. Most of the litter is recyclable, so it would be great if you would take the time to separate the recyclable items from garbage. If you need clear garbage bags (supplied by the Town of Kearney), please give Stan Walker a call at 705-636-9530 or email him at stan.kwef@gmail.com. He will also have a few dollar-store "picker/grabbers" that can be borrowed if you don't have one.
Most of us find that five-gallon plastic pails perform better than a plastic bag when you are working among bushes or bramble along the roadside. Just transfer your collection to the bags periodically.
As always, please be conscious of traffic, wear high visibility clothing or safety vests.
We can all make the commitment to not litter. Set an example for your children, friends and neighbours. Start by placing a small garbage container or bag in your car so that litter doesn't get tossed out the window. It can be a first small step in helping make our planet / environment a better place.
Wake Awareness
Our lakes and rivers are swollen with the spring run-off. May is also the start of boating season. Higher spring water levels mean damage from boat wake, which causes damage to docks, shoreline erosion, and of particular concern, the swamping of nesting shore birds, especially loons.
Loon populations are declining. For more than four decades, Birds Canada has collected data for its annual Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. In 2021, their analysis of all of that collected data started to raise alarm bells.
Across almost all of Canada, common loons are struggling to reproduce.
Further information on this study can be found here: https://www.birdscanada.org/new-study-helps-explain-why-loons-are-raising-fewer-chicks-in-ontario
Please be aware of the size of your boat wake; our loons need all the help they can get.
The Larger the Wake, the Greater the Danger. As well as drowning young loon chicks, boat wakes cause shoreline erosion, damage to docks, can capsize smaller craft, and create danger to swimmers.