Lake Simcoe-
A year after the release of the Lake Simcoe Under Pressure report, a new report is shedding light on the increasing pressures facing Lake Simcoe.
Who Will Take Care of Lake Simcoe?, issued Wednesday, was done by the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition and Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition.
It recognized four immediate threats to Lake Simcoe: the unsustainable growth and development around the lake, the Orbit MZO development in Innisfil, the Bradford Bypass and more planned highways, along with the possible approval of the Upper York Sewage System.
The report also shows two things Lake Simcoe needs: Keeping the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan strong and growing the Greenbelt into Simcoe County.
Its authors share concerns around the Greenbelt expansion and the unreleased results of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan review, saying those two things “have done nothing to improve environmental conditions in the watershed yet.”
“Municipalities have demonstrated their ability to stand together in defense of Lake Simcoe, as evidenced by their unanimous support for a successful bid to have the province pay the balance of a phosphorus recycling facility on the Holland River, announced last week,” said Claire Malcolmson , Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s executive director and the report’s lead author.
“But growth pressures, be they in the form of new highway plans or greenfield development, will have environmental impacts on Lake Simcoe that are not getting enough attention,” said Margaret Prophet, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition’s executive director.
Highlighted in the report, Lake Simcoe area environment groups caution, “if we carry on with the development and highway plans outlined in this report, it will be virtually impossible to save this beautiful freshwater ecosystem as we know it today.”
The full report can be found on the Rescue Lake Simcoe website.