The context
Picturesque Fairy Lake in Southampton, ON faces multiple stressors from stormwater inputs, legacy contamination, and invasive plant and fish species. As a popular urban park in the Town of Saugeen Shores, the community and Town are interested in restoration options to improve water quality and manage invasive species in the lake, but there is no present understanding of the lake’s ecological baseline condition and the dynamics between invasive species and limnology are poorly understood. This hinders effective lake management and must be addressed in restoration planning.
Effective and sustainable restoration is grounded in a solid understanding of the ecosystem's dynamics and functions, yet lakes are complex. Taking action before the system is well understood can have unintended outcomes, wasting money and even worsening environmental issues. To ensure that any future restoration efforts are well-supported and cost-effective, we are launching this pre-feasibility study.
Our goals
- Characterize the current condition of Fairy Lake and the major factors influencing its water quality and biological community. This will entail a biological assessment of key aquatic species including fish, invertebrates and plants in the lake as well as characterization of water and sediment quality. This first biological assessment will be high-level, and will be informed and may evolve in response to local and Indigenous knowledge about ecosystem components that are of particularly high value and/or concern.
- Engage local stakeholders and stewards of Fairy Lake to identify their priorities in terms of lake restoration. This website is our project portal, where we will be posting updates, seeking feedback, and sharing our results. Please check back, as we will be updating this site regularly.
Our plans
This summer you may see our project team out sampling water, sediment, plants, bugs and fish to get a sense of the lake communities. Like a physical at your doctor's where they take your blood pressure, measure your height and weight, etc., these measurements will help us assess the health of Fairy Lake. We will be sampling regularly, and though our crew members may be busy, we're happy to stop and say hello from a safe distance. If you have lots of questions, we may direct you here, where you can post using the commenting feature. We look forward to learning more about Fairy Lake and sharing with you!
Join us!
We're recruiting an MSc. student to complete this research as part of a fully funded graudate degree from the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. More details are here.
Get in touch
If you have questions, feel free to email us: rrooney@uwaterloo.ca, with "FAIRY LAKE INQUIRY" as the subject line.
