HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-01-07, Page 5Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, January 7, 2009 - Page A3
nvasive species a threat to Lake Huron waters
Illaitipossiery
special to the signal -star
A Huron County public health manager
was the guest speaker at a recent internation-.
conference on water quality in the Great
And Pam Scharfe says, compared to
e Erie or Lake Ontario, Lake Huron is in
airly good shape.
Pam Scharfe, was invited to speak at the
ternational State of the Lakes Ecosystem
nference, held this year in Niagara Falls.
"It's a bi-national conference," says
charfe, "where leading scientists from both
anada and the U -S come to report on their
ndings and research on the Great Lakes.'
Scharfe says she belongs to the Lake Hu-
ron South -East Lake Huron Shore Working
Group, which is made up of several agencies
dealing with water quality issues in Lake
Huron and she was asked by her colleagues
there if she would report on all of the differ-
ent water conditions that exist there, includ-
ing fish, .the ecology and the recreational
water quality, because the focus of the con-
ference this year was on near -shore.
Scharfe says the scientists have a very
wide network for comparing the different
Great Lakes and Lake Huron is doing quite
well.
"Lake Huron, of all the lakes, particularly
if you compare it to Lake Erie and Lake On-
tario, is holding it's own quite well," says
Scharfe, "But we need to continue to study
the lake ... there's the whole issue of the in-
vasive species that are affecting the ecosys-
tem of the lake. We're continuing to watch
and monitor our water quality because that's
also 'another indicator. So Lake Huron is
doing quite well. Compared to Lake Ontario
and Lake Erie, we've •got a good lake, but
we need to continue to protect what we've
got." •
And Scharfe says invasive species are
clearly the greatest threat to the Great Lakes.
She says when you look at some of the data
and research that's been done, it clearly
shows that invasive species are affecting
everything from the Zoe plankton, which is
what all of the native
Photo by Dave Sykes
toast to the New Year
he annual New Year's Levee at the Goderich Legion Branch 109 attracted
good crowd Thursday as patrons toasted in the first day of the New Year
nd enjoyed some food and fellowship. John Duckworth (centre) shares a
elebratory toast with Ellie Winters (right) and Evie Shand (left).
Entertainment
Friday Night, 9. pm -1 am
species feed on, to
the fish themselves.
"I think people
think it's all about
water quality," says
. Scharfe, "but, in fact,
invasive species is a
very alarming thing
that's happening to
our lake ... it's changing the eco -system of
the lake."
Scharfe says part of the battle with inva-
sive species is educating people about things
they can do to avoid transferring them from
one lake to another. She says education is
also a big part of reducing pollution prob-
lems along the shoreline.
'The research tells us when you go off the
shoreline, out into the lake, the water quality is
quite good," says Scharfe, "but we are continu-
ing to see elevated e -coli levels and phosphate
levels closer to the shoreline, so it's important
that each individual person know that they can
make a difference. So whether that's updating
and maintaining a septic system if you happen
to be in the part of a watershed that could im-
pact the shoreline, or a fanner getting cattle out
of a stream, or putting in berms so we don't get
these big wash -offs, especially during dry sea-
sons when we have heavy thunderstorms."
Scharfe says water conservation is another
important issue and as Canadians we're not
particularly good at it. She says, as with pol-
lutants, we're getting better, but we've still
got a long way to go.
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