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Toxins in Washademoak ruled out, but murky waters remain mystery

Water sample analysis rules out toxicity, but there is still no clear reason for Washademoak Lake’s brown colour this summer.

Department of Environment officials met with residents to present findings

Jill English · CBC News ·
Washademoak's waters have been a murky brown colour all summer, the reason for the sediment still unsubstantiated. (Jill English/CBC)

It's been months of murky waters for the residents and cottagers on the shores of Washademoak Lake, the cause still unknown.

Recent government-run tests on a water sample collected last month ruled out toxic or harmful chemical imbalances in the water, encouraging news after last year's toxic blue-green algae blooms.

But the bad news is that there still isn't a substantiated cause for the sediment that stakeholders speculate stems from a number of causes, ranging from forestry to boating to last fall's floods caused by heavy rain.

Province attends Watershed meeting

Officials from the province's Department of Environment met with the community on Monday night at the Canaan-Washademoak Watershed Association's monthly meeting.

Cambridge-Narrows resident, and Canaan-Washademoak Watershed Association president Robena Weatherley is concerned about the lake's brown colour. She wants scientific evidence to support community's hypotheses on the causes
Association president Robena Weatherley says it was highly attended by members of the community.

"It takes a crisis," she said. "The rest of the time if the lake looks fine, perhaps people are not so concerned and don't think about what's going on, but this is in your face and you can't miss it."

Weatherley grew up on the shores of Washademoak Lake in Cambridge Narrows and says she remembers walking in clear waters.

She says she is encouraged by the government's participation but says even they would point out that they only took one sample.

No one has been able to identify the reason the waters of Washedemoak Lake near Cambridge Narrows has been a murky brown this summer. (CBC)
"Scientifically that's not enough," she said.

She hopes the government will continue to work with the watershed association to determine the cause of the murky water.

In a written statement to CBC News, the department confirmed it will continue to be involved, beginning with reviewing the comments from Monday's meeting.

Environmental stewardship

In the meantime, Weatherley asks residents to be aware of the environment they're in. 

"There are tipping points," she said. "We need to be paying attention to what we're doing here, work with what we have, and we have very erodible soil." 

She says she's hopeful that the solution is within reach.

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