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Photo of Lake Simcoe's Kempenfelt Bay during the winter. Credit Adam Ballah.

At Issue: The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan

View more info on the plan here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministers-10-year-report-lake-simcoe

Here’s the original plan: https://www.ontario.ca/page/lake-simcoe-protection-plan Here’s the public survey: https://www.ontario.ca/form/public-survey-lake-simcoe-protection-plan-10-year-review

While the mandatory 10-year review protection measures of Ontario’s fourth largest lake seeks to add protections, some say the plan could be eroded.

In 2008, the Lake Simcoe protection plan came into effect. It was a broad strategy to reduce phosphorus loads and algae cover — a plan to make the lake safe for coldwater fish again, and generally move towards more protection for the lake as Climate becomes an ever-present threat to ecosystems worldwide.

And the plan, by most accounts, worked. Phosphorous loads decreased by 50 percent since the plan came into being, algae has decreased and conditions for fish in the lake have gotten far better.

But now, over 10 years later, a revision is on the table. And that’s required by provincial legislation — but the review comes at a pivotal time in the lake’s history.

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