LacBrlWaterQuality

StewardshipGroup
2015ActivityReport

LacBrlWaterQualityPlan
SainteAgathedesMonts

December2015

LACBRLWATERQUALITYSTEWARDSHIPGROUP
2015ACTIVITYREPORT

DECEMBER2015

ReportpreparedbyMatMadison,biologistandprojectmanager
GestionEnvironnementMM

ReportpreparedfortheEnvironmentCommitteeoftheLacBrlClub

Theinformationcompiledinthisreportistheresultofthecollaborationandparticipation
ofmanymembersoftheLacBrlcommunity,includingthefollowingpeople:
AndrewRobertson
BillPollock
BarbaraLewis
ElizabethAndrews
EmilyRoberston
EricVonColditz
GailGorman
GeneviveLaytonCartier
GeordieHodgson
GrantMacKenzie

WendyHunt
JackWarden
JamesPeck
JohnHolinsky
JonSewell
MeganRobertson
KatherineStewart
KathyMills
KennethAtlas
PeterRussel

LacBrlWaterQualityStewardshipGroup
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RussellPayson
TonyLayton
VickiBarrett

TABLEOFCONTENTS
1

CONTEXT..........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 LACBRLWATERQUALITYPLAN...............................................................................................................1
1.2 LACBRLWATERQUALITYSTEWARDSHIPGROUP..........................................................................................3

ACTIVITYREPORTFOR2015..............................................................................................................4
2.1 CREATIONOFTHEWATERQUALITYPLAN.......................................................................................................4
2.2 CREATIONOFTHESTEWARDSHIPGROUP........................................................................................................4
2.2.1

April17thFirstmeeting...........................................................................................................4

2.2.2

April30thFirstStewardshipGroupmeeting............................................................................5

2.3 ACTIONSOF2015....................................................................................................................................5
2.3.1

Watersamplingandtesting.......................................................................................................5

2.3.2

Transparencymeasurements.....................................................................................................8

2.3.3

Periphytonmeasurements..........................................................................................................8

2.3.4

Tributaryobservations................................................................................................................9

2.3.5

Watershedanalysis.................................................................................................................111

2.3.6

Collaborationwithstakeholders...............................................................................................15

RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................................166

CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................18

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LISTEOFTABLES
Table2.1:Fecalcoliformresultsfor2015comparedtoresultsfrompreviousyears...........6
Table2.2:Fecalcoliformresultsfor2015ontheNorthRiverofLacBrl...........................6
Table2.3:PhysicalandchemicalanalysisoftheRSVLfor2015comparedtopastresults...7
Table2.4:Phosphorusresultsfor2015ontheNorthRiverdownstreamofLacBrl.........8
Table2.5:Transparencymeasurementsfor2015comparedtopastresults........................8

LISTEOFFIGURES
Figure2.1:LacBrlwatershed...........................................................................................12
Figure2.2:WetlandswithintheLakeBrlwatershed.......................................................13
Figure2.3:ForestcoverwithintheLacBrlwatershed.....................................................14
Figure2.4:RoadnetworkanddevelopmentareaswithintheLacBrlwatershed...........15

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1 CONTEXT
The Environment Committee of the Lac Brl Club has been responsible for monitoring
thewaterqualityfordecades.Recently,ithasdecideditwouldbefavourabletodevelopa
WaterQualityPlanwhichwouldallowtheCommitteetoestablishabaseofactionforthe
yearstocome.
This report highlights the results of the 2015 activities that took place at Lac Brl with
regards to the Water Quality Plan and the Stewardship Group. It further describes the
areasofsuccessaswellasareasthatpresentedchallenges.Finally,thereportidentifies
recommendationsfortheEnvironmentCommitteeforfurtheractionintheyearstocome.

1.1 LacBrlWaterQualityPlan
ThemaingoaloftheWaterQualityPlanistoimprovethequalityoftheenvironmentby
eliminating and preventing pollution or other forms of nuisance on the lake and in the
waterways. Nutrient input reaching the lake can cause eutrophication, an increased
enrichment of aquatic ecosystems that brings a loss in quality. Bacteriological
contaminationbecomesariskforhealthandsafety,resultinginalossofusesrelatedto

Longtermgoals

Promoteconsiderationof
environmentalissues
Startapositiveand
mobilizinginitiativeby
andforthecommunity

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Objectives

Acquiredataand
informationaboutwater
qualityandlakehealth
Inform,educateandraise
awareness
Promoteactionto
eliminate,reduceor
preventcontamination
Collaboratewith
stakeholders


water.
Aquaticecosystemsarequitecomplexandmanyinteractionscanplayanimportantrole
when it comes to water quality. This is why it is important to diversify the action plan,
especiallywhenitcomestostudyingLacBrl.Wateranalysestakenoverthepastyears
are quite useful for generating a portrait of water quality and of potential inputs in the
lake.Nonetheless,itisimportanttogathermoreinformationondifferentaspectsofthe
lake ecology in order to understand how water quality affects the dynamics of this
ecosystem.Thereareindeedmanydifferentaspectsandcriteriausedtostudylakesand
theirquality.
The same can be said about actions taken to improve the water quality and prevent
contamination.Theseactionsmustbetakenwithdifferentstakeholderswiththeintention
of implementing measures to eliminate or reduce several potentially harmful

Dataand
information
Information
documentsforthe
community
Conferencesfor
thecommunity
Meetingwith
stakeholders

Waterqualitysampling
andanalysis
Transparency
measurements
Aquaticplantsand
periphyton
Sedimentsandsubstrate
Fishpopulations
Beaveractivity
Watershedanalysis

Information,
education
andraising
awareness

Septicsystemconformity
Vegetatedshorelines
Erosionandsedimentcontrol
Responsibleboating
Beavermanagement
Wetlandandwatershedprotection
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Eliminate,reduce
andpreventwater
contamination


contamination or risks. In this way, many different actions can be taken in partnership
withlocalstakeholders.

1.2 LacBrlWaterQualityStewardshipGroup
The recommended approach for implementing the action plan is based on a for the
community, by the community vision. Because the Water Quality Plan is a longterm
effort for maintaining the quality of the living environment around Lac Brl, the
implementationmustconcentrateongettingthecommunityinvolved.Thesituationmust
beanalyzedanddiscussedwiththemembersofthecommunitytoconcentrateeffortsina
collaborativewaytoimplementneededaction.
Thisapproachisthealternativetohavingalltheworkdonebyaconsultant.Infact,having
the action plan implemented solely by a consultant has many disadvantages including
highercostsandlessactionsbeingimplementedintheend.
The best sustainable way to implement a longterm plan on the lake is if the people
directly associated and influenced by the environment take part in the actions and in
sharing the results with the community on a volunteer basis. It is therefore in the best
interestofthelakeandthecommunitytocreateaLakeStewardshipGroupinchargeof

LacBrlClub

Decisionmakingforthe
community
Managementofresources

Environment
Committee

Discussenvironmental
orientationsandobjectives
RecommendationstoClub

StewardshipGroup

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Implementactiononthefield
withcommunitymembers


implementing action regarding the Water Quality Plan. On top of greatly reducing the
costs of implementing the Water Quality Plan, this approach encourages a sense of
belonging,makingtheworkmorepersonalandlinkeddirectlytothepeopleinfluencedby
theresults.

2 ACTIVITYREPORTFOR2015
2015 was the startoff year for the Water Quality Plan and the Stewardship Group. The
mainchallengewastostartgettingmembersofthecommunityinvolvedandinterestedin
theenvironmentalissues.

2.1 CreationoftheWaterQualityPlan
Latein2013,thefirstdiscussionsregardingtheWaterQualityPlanstarted.Membersof
the Environment Committee were interested in widening the environmental approach
within its community. For years, the Environment Committee had been working on
establishing an extensive portrait of water quality of the lake and of its tributaries. The
committee wanted to better understand the issues regarding water quality as well as
developnewinitiativesregardingthehealthofLacBrl.
Early in 2014, the first versions of the Water Quality Plan took shape. In the end, the
WaterQualityPlanproposedanewapproachbasedoncommunityinvolvementaswellas
aspecificanddiversifiedactionplanfortheyearstocome.

2.2 CreationoftheStewardshipGroup
2.2.1 April17thFirstmeeting
ThefirstmeetingonthesubjectoftheStewardshipGrouptookplaceattheclubhouseon
April 17, 2015. This first meeting brought many new members to the table to discuss
environmental issues and explore opportunities for community involvement. Many
questionsarosefromthegroup,identifyingprioritiesanddiscussingpotentialactionsthat
couldtakeplaceaswellashowtheycouldbeimplementedwithcommunityinvolvement.

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Yet,thismeetingbroughtoneimportantrealization:theneedformakingthe2015action
planmorespecificandtangible.

2.2.2 April30thFirstStewardshipGroupmeeting
BasedondiscussionsamongstEnvironmentCommitteemembers,itwasdecidedthatthe
2015 action plan had to concentrate on a few specific actions, so that the community
members could get a better sense of the work involved for them on the Stewardship
Group.
The meeting held on April 30, 2015, presented the orientations and objectives of the
water quality plan as well as the approach of the Stewardship Group. The meeting
presented 5specific spheres of actions: water sampling and testing, measurement of
periphyton, tributary observations, watershed analysis and collaboration with local
stakeholders.
MembersofthecommunityenrolledintheStewardshipGroupandgotinvolvedinspecific
teams that worked on these actions during the 2015 season. At this stage, nearly
20membersofthecommunitygotinvolvedin2015withactionspertainingtotheWater
QualityPlan.

2.3 Actionsin2015
Actions that took place in 2015 from the Water Quality Plan are multiple and diverse.
These actions include: water quality testing, transparency measurements, periphyton
measurements, aquatic plants observation, sediments and substrate observations, fish
observations, beaver observations, watershed analysis and collaboration with
stakeholders.

2.3.1 Watersamplingandtesting
Inthesummerof2015,watertestingwasdoneontwospecificlevels:coliformtestingfor
bacterialcontaminationaswellasphysicalchemicaltestingforgeneralhealthofthelake.

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Fecalcoliformtesting
Asitwasdoneformanyyearsinthepast,thewaterwastestedatspecificareasforthe
presenceoffecalcoliforms.Thisyear,samplingwasdoneattwoplacesonthelake:the
beach at the clubhouse and the point between Lac Noir and Lac Brl. Samples were
takenandanalysedbyalocallaboratoryonJune30thandJuly30th.Table2.1presentsthe
resultsandhowtheycomparetoresultsfromthepastyears.
Table2.1:Fecalcoliformresultsfor2015comparedtoresultsfrompreviousyears
Fecalcoliformcount(CFU/100mL)
Samplingpoints
June30th

July30th

Averageresultsfor
20132014

13

22.2

<2

<2

<2

BetweenLacNoir
andLacBrl
Beachatclubhouse

*Thecriteriaforswimmingis200CFU/100mLandthecriteriaforsecondarycontact(canoeing,fishing,etc.)
is1000CFU/100mL.

Abrinord,theNorthRiverwatershedgroup,alsosamplestheNorthRiver,justofLacBrl
forfecalcoliformcount.Table2.2presentstheresultsfor2015.
Table2.2:Fecalcoliformresultsfor2015ontheNorthRiverdownstreamofLacBrl
Sampling
point
Station1:
downstream
ofLacBrl
onSteLucie
Road

Fecalcoliformcount(CFU/100mL)
April

May

June

July

August

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

<2

<2

1100

13

26

<2

<2

*Thecriteriaforswimmingis200CFU/100mLandthecriteriaforsecondarycontact(canoeing,fishing,etc.)
is1000CFU/100mL.

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Physicalchemicaltesting
Lac Brl Club had participated in the Volunteer LakeMonitoring Program (Rseau de
surveillancevolontairedeslacsRSVL)in2009,2010and2009forwaterqualitytesting.
In2015,theClubsigneduponceagainfortheseactivitiesonbothLacBrlandLacNoir.
Physicalandchemicalanalysisincludedtotalphosphorus,chlorophyll,aswellasdissolved
organic carbon. Table 2.3 presents these results and compares them to results from
previousyears.
Table2.3:PhysicalandchemicalanalysisoftheRSVLfor2015comparedtopastresults
Averageyearlyresults
Lakes

LacBrl

LacNoir

Parameter
2015

2011

2010

2009

Total
phosphorus
(g/L)

6.9

7.1

9.3

8.7

Chlorophylla
(g/L)

2.4

3.2

3.6

5.8

Dissolved
organiccarbon
(mg/L)

5.7

4.7

4.8

5.8

Total
phosphorus
(g/L)

4.6

Chlorophylla
(g/L)

2.9

Dissolved
organiccarbon
(mg/L)

4.7

*Lac Noir did not participate in water quality testing as part of the RSVL in 2011, 2010 or 2009
**2015resultswillbemadeavailableinearly2016

AbrinordalsosamplestheNorthRiver,justdownstreamofLacBrlfortotalphosphorus.
Table2.4presentstheresultsfor2015.

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Table2.4:Phosphorusresultsfor2015ontheNorthRiverdownstreamofLacBrl
Sampling
point

Totaldissolvedphosphorus(g/L)
April

May

June

July

August

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Station1:
downstream
ofLacBrl
onSteLucie
Road

2.3.2 Transparencymeasurements
Asithasbeendoneformanyyearsinthepast,watertransparencywasmeasuredin2015
onLacBrlandonLacNoir.Table2.5presentstheseresultsandcomparesthemtopast
results.
Table2.5:Transparencymeasurementsfor2015comparedtopastresults
Yearlyaveragetransparencymeasured(inmeters)
Lakes
2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

Brl

3.2

2.1

2.7

2.4

2.7

2.1

Noir

2.5

2.2

2.3

3.2

2.6

2.3

2.3.3 Periphytonmeasurements
It was planned to measure periphyton growth in the summer of 2015 in a few sites
located on Lac Brl. Although some sites were identified as potentially interested,
measurementswerenotsystematicallytakenonthesesites.Onlyonesitewasobserved
andtheresultsshowedlittleornogrowthofperiphytoninthisarea.Theseresultsarenot
sufficienttoestablishatrendortofurtherdeveloponthisaspect.Futuremeasurements
willbeneededtousethisparameterforbetterunderstandingtheheathandthequalityof
thewateratLacBrl.

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2.3.4 Tributaryobservations
Oneofthemostsuccessfulareasoffieldworkdoneinthesummerof2015waseverything
involvingobservationsofthetributariesofLacBrlandLacNoir.Sitevisitsweredoneon
Mud Stream, Beaulne Stream and Right Stream. Observations were done on these
streams with regards to aquatic vegetation growth, natural settings, general substrate,
beaver activity and wildlife. The following sections discuss the results of these
observationsforeachvisitedtributary.
MudStream
MudStreamdrainstheterritoryeastofLacBrl,fromthewesternsideofSainteLucie
desLaurentidestothearealocatednearLacNoirRoad.JustwestofLacBrl,thestream
reachesasmalllakeknownasMudLake.Thisareaplaysanimportantroleinmaintaining
thewaterqualityofthistributary.Infact,thewetlandsofMudStreamretainwaterduring
floods,diminishtheeffectsofdroughts,filteroutcontaminantsandnutrients,aswellas
retainsediments.
Thiswholevalleyshowsmanysignsofgeologicaldeposition;thestreamandthewetlands
arelocatedinagreatdepositionareathathas accumulatedmineralandorganic matter
for thousands of years. This can be seen in the vegetationcover present in this area. In
fact, there is a dominance of spruce and tamarack on the shores. As for aquatic
vegetation,itseemstogrowprolificallyeveryyear,evenshowingsignsofmoreandmore
growthovertheyears.Thereisalsoasignificantphenomenonofsedimentdepositionat
the entrance of Mud Lake. Sand and silt create shallows in this area, allowing more
vegetationgrowth.
There is also a beaver dam, located just upstream of Mud Lake. According to local
residents, the beavers were all trapped in the fall of 2014, but recently could be
establishing again in this area. The beaver ponds acts as an extra line of defence water
qualitywise,retainingnutrientsandsedimentsbeforetheyreachMudLake.

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FishingactivitiesallsummerlonghaveshownanimportantdensityofmuskyinMudLake.
Muskiesareknownasfreshwatersharks,establishingtheirhabitatsindenselyvegetated
areaswherepreyarebountiful.
Insummary,MudStreamshowsawiderangeofhabitatforadiversityofwildlifeandcan
beconsideredasanimportanthabitatworthpreservingandstewarding.
BeaulneStream
Beaulne Stream flows from Lacs Papineau, Magnan and Arpin to Lac Noir on its
northwesternend,inaplacelocallyknownasFigureEightLake.Thestreamcominginto
the lake is fast flowing, on a substrate of rocks and pebbles. As the stream reaches the
northern end of FigureEight Lake, the substrate changes, showing an accumulation of
sand and silt that have deposited in this area. This could indicate that an input of
sedimentsandphosphorusfromupstreamhasoccurred.
Thiswholeareashowsmanysignsofgeologicaldeposition;thestreamandthewetlands
are located in a great deposition area, such as with Mud Stream. FigureEight Lake is in
factalargetractofwetland.Mostoftheareaisdominatedbyamarshtypeecosystem,
but in some specific areas, floating bog surfaces show a high diversity of rare bog type
plantspeciessuchaspitcherplants,plantsoftheheatherfamilyandnativebogorchids.
Thisareaisalsoanimportanthabitatforfauna.FigureEightLakealsoplaysanimportant
buffer role for Lac Noir, capable of retaining many sediments and nutrients before they
reachandaffectthelake.
Some signs suggest beaveractivity inthis area. Beavers havealsobeenspottedby local
residents.
RightStream
What is known as Right Stream is in fact the stream flowing from Lac Ludger into the
northeastern bay of Lac Noir. The stream is very similar in structure to Beaulne Stream.

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Whenitreachesthebay,accumulationofsedimentsandsiltareveryvisible.Thewholeof
thisshallowbayshowsconsiderablegrowthofaquaticvegetation.Thiscouldindicatean
input of phosphorus coming from Lac Ludger.Once again, the bay plays a bufferrole in
retainingsedimentsandnutrientsbeforetheyreachLacNoir.
Theredoesnotseemtobeanyactivebeaveractivityinthisareain2015.
BlacksCreek
BlacksCreekisthestreamflowingintoLacBrlfromtheprivategolfcourselocatedon
thenorthwesternsideofit.Thewaterflowofthestreamismuchlesscomparedtothe
other three tributaries discussed. This also means that concentration of sediments and
phosphoruscouldbemuchhigher.Infact,themouthofthiscreekshowsaconsiderable
delta,showinganaccumulationofsedimentsdirectlyinLacBrl,creatingahabitatfor
aquatic plant increase. The creek comes into the lake in a boggy and marshy area that
alreadyshowsahighlevelof organicmatteraccumulationandplantgrowth.Unlikethe
other tributaries, the creek flows through the wetland without as much retention of
sedimentsandnutrients.Therefore,anyinputofphosphorusorsedimentsinthistributary
wouldmakeitintothelakewithease.ThehydrographyofBlacksCreekhasbeengreatly
modifiedbyhumanactivities,especiallywiththedevelopingofthegolfcourse.
Theredoesnotseemtobeanyactivebeaveractivityinthisareain2015.

2.3.5 Watershedanalysis
Watershed analysis was done within a select group of individuals during a meeting that
tookplaceinthesummerof2015.
Lac Brls watershed covers more than 155 square kilometers. Beaulne Streams
watershedcoversthegreaterpartofLacBrlswatershed.Onebranchofthistributary
flows from Lac de la Montagne Noire at the northern edge of Lantier. This branch also
flowsintoLacArpin.ThesecondbranchflowsfromLacPapineau.

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ThesecondsubwatershedisRightStream,flowingfromLacLudger.Themaintributaryto
Lac Ludger flows from Lac Cardin and large tracks of wetlands upstream also located in
Lantier.ThethirdsubwatershedisMudStream.Itssourceisingreatwetlandsareasto
theeast,locatedinSainteLuciedesLaurentides.LacRobillardandLacWellieHuotare
locatedinthiswatershed.
Figure2.1showsLacBrlswatershed.

Figure2.1:LacBrlwatershed.

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According to available geospatial data, Lac Bruls watershed is covered by about
2340hectares of wetlands (5780 acres), which corresponds to about 15% of the
watershedarea.
The larger wetland areas are located in the Mud Stream watershed, in SaintLuciedes
Laurentides, as well as upstream of Lac Cardin in Lantier. Other wetland areas are also
locatedupstreamofLacArpinandofLacPapineau.
Figure2.2showsthelocationofwetlandsintheLacBrlwatershed.Thesewetlandsplay
animportantroleinwaterregulationandfiltration.

Figure2.2:WetlandswithintheLacBrlwatershed.
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Forestcoverisanotherinterestingaspectofthewatershed.Figure2.3showsthedifferent
foresttypesinthewatershed.
Mostofthevalleysofthewatershedarecoveredinconiferousdominatedforests(orange
color).Thegreaterportionofthewatershediscoveredinmixedforests(lightgreencolor).
Mountainsidesshowadominanceofdeciduousforests,mostlydominatedbymapletrees.

Figure2.3:ForestcoverwithintheLacBrlwatershed.
Looking at territory development is also an important factor when analyzing the
watershed.Theterritoryisverydeveloped,mostlyforresidentialuses.Manyroadsdivide
thenaturallandscape.

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Some areas are more densely developed, such as around Lac Magnan, around Lac
Papineau,aroundLacLudgerandinareasinSaintLuciedesLaurentides.Developedareas
arebyfartheareasthathavethemostimpactonwaterqualitywithinthewatershed.
Figure2.4showsroadnetworkanddevelopmentareaswithinthewatershed.

Figure2.4:RoadnetworkanddevelopmentareaswithintheLacBrlwatershed.

2.3.6 Collaborationwithstakeholders
Following the watershed analysis activity, some action took place to look over issues
pertainingtodevelopedareas.

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Firstly,amemberoftheStewardshipGroupapproachedthemunicipalcouncilorandlocal
residentstodiscusssepticsystemconformitywithintheimmediatewatershed.Following
adiscussionwiththemunicipalofficer,itseemsthatmanysystemswereinspectedover
the past years within the territory of SainteAgathedesMonts in order to ensure that
theyarenotcontaminatingsurfacewaters.Furtherinspectionswilltakeplaceintheyears
to come to continue this work. When needed, some systems are upgraded to meet
currentregulations.
Secondly,amemberoftheEnvironmentCommitteeandoftheBoardofDirectorsofthe
LacBrlClubalsoapproachedtheresidentassociationlocatedintheLacPapineauarea
to discuss collaboration in sharing information and data regarding water quality
management.Furthercollaborationisplannedforthefuture.

3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Althoughmanyactivitiesdidtakeplacein2015,otheractivitiescouldstillbeplannedfor
thefutureyears:

Waterqualitysampling.Agreatdealofdataisalreadyavailableforwaterquality
forthelakesandwithinthewatershed.Watersamplesshouldbeanalyzedevery3
or 4years to compare results over time. It would also be interesting to measure
water quality, especially phosphorus and coliforms, at the mouth of the major
tributariesduringimportantrainfalls.Infact,itisatthismomentthatactualinput
can better be measured. Results could be surprisingly higher at these times and
thiswouldbequiteinterestingdatatoacquire.

Water transparency. Water transparency can be measured 3 or 4 times a year.

This data is easy to acquire and can be shared with the RSVL to compare results
throughouttheyears.

Periphytonmeasurements.Sincemeasurementscouldnotbesystematicallytaken
in2015,thisprojectshouldbedonein2016.

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Further tributary observations. Because the watershed is so important for the

lake, tributary observations play a vital role in lake stewardship. Individuals from
theStewardshipGroupcouldbenamedtobeinchargeofspecifictributariesand
could conduct simple observations throughout the seasons. Beaver activity,
sediments, plant communities as well as general stream observations could take
placeyearafteryearanddatacouldbecompiledandsharedwiththecommunity.

The Environment Committee also plays an important role when it comes to sharing the
information pertaining to water quality, raising awareness in the community and
collaboratingwithlocalstakeholders:

Create and distribute documents regarding water quality issues and current
available data on this matter. This report, as well as other water quality reports,
couldbesharedwithmembersoftheClub.

Organizeyearlyconferencesonspecificsubjectspertainingtowaterqualityaswell
astoshareresultsoftheyearlyStewardshipGroupactivities.

Raising members awareness with regards to efficiency and conformity of

individual household water treatment systems. Each property owner is
responsible for maintaining an efficient and conforming septic system for their
home.Becauseoftheimportanceofthisissue,thisshouldbemadeapriorityfor
allmembersoftheClub.

Collaborate with other resident associations located within the watershed,

especially those from the Lac Papineau area and the Lac Ludger area. Data
pertaining to water quality could be shared between associations to better
understand issues within the watershed. Joint activities could also take place to
acquiremoredata,ortoraiseawarenessamongcommunitymembers.

Collaborate with the local municipalities in order to ensure conformity of septic

systems but also to share information pertaining to any development that could
takeplacewithinthewatershedandthatmighthaveanimpactonwaterquality.

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On the Stewardship Group front, it is recommended to continue getting new people
involvedinactivitiespertainingtotheWaterQualityPlan,especiallyyoungerfolksasthey
willformthefuturegenerationoflakestewardsensuringcontinuityofpastandpresent
actions.

4 CONCLUSION
The present report highlights results of the 2015 activities that took place at Lac Brl
withregardstotheWaterQualityPlanandtheStewardshipGroup.Infact,asthisisthe
firstyearofactivitiesfortheWaterQualityStewardshipGroup,manynewactivitieshave
taken place with regards to water quality analysis, transparency measurements,
periphytonmeasurements,watershedanalysisandcollaborationwithlocalstakeholders.
The report also identifies recommendations for the Environment Committee for further
actionintheyearstocome.Themostimportantthingnowwillbetomaintainactivities
pertaining to lake stewardship in order to ensure continuity for the years to come. One
thingiscertain,the2015activitiesbroughttogetheragreatnumberofpeopleamongst
them,leadersforyearstocomeallinterestedinknowingmoreaboutwaterqualityand
doingwhattheycantoprotectthelake.

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