Posts Tagged ‘Lake Simcoe’

Troubled waters: Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority wetland permitting process is questioned

January 22nd, 2014 by Laura Bowman

Could you imagine a process where a developer can get an approval to destroy a provincially significant wetland in the Lake Simcoe Watershed without anyone even knowing about it, and where the approval is virtually guaranteed?

In September 2013, the North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance (NGFA), a pressure-group of residents in Georgina, released a report by planning consultant Anthony Usher on the way the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) approves developments in wetlands. The report criticizes the process and the policies the LSRCA uses in granting development approvals in and around waterways.

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Lake Simcoe five years later: Limitless growth causes limitless problems

June 17th, 2013 by Laura Bowman

This upcoming December will mark the fifth anniversary of the Lake Simcoe Protection Act (LSPA), the passage of which led to the implementation of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. This legislation was the result of a lot of hard grassroots work by many people in the community.

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment claims that actions under the LSPA and the Plan have resulted in decreasing levels of total phosphorous in the spring, more naturally reproduced sport fish and increasing deep water oxygen levels. These are important steps toward a healthy Lake Simcoe, but do these claims stand up to scrutiny? How much real progress has been made toward protecting Lake Simcoe, and is there room for improvement?

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