CRANE LAKE – Between habitat destruction and motorsport traffic that she compared to “Mad Max Thunderdome,” Marsha Hayward has taken it upon herself to stand up for the protection of Crane Lake, which she said has unusually high ecosystem attributes and ecological value.
Hayward is a research scientist studying for her Masters in Ecology and has been documenting what she believes is a declining ecosystem at Crane Lake.
During the Oct. 8 MD of Bonnyville council meeting, Hayward attended the public hearing regarding the updated Crane Lake Area Structure Plan (ASP) and voiced her concerns about Crane Lake, calling for an ecological assessment of the area.
Hayward told council that any past studies done on Crane Lake within the old ASP will not reflect the current usage in and around Crane Lake.
“Crane Lake historically and naturally has very high species richness and populations due to the freshwater groundwater springs, deep fresh water, connected watershed attributes, and varied forested communities. These physical ecosystem attributes and their related high ecological value are the reason why Crane Lake has been such a water and species rich area,” said Hayward, speaking with Lakeland This Week after the meeting.
Hayward said Crane Lake’s ecosystem attributes and ecological value has rapidly declined in the past five years and believes climate change has added to its deterioration.
Hayward spoke about the destruction of reed beds as a major concern, which has a rippling ecological effect.
“The original Area Structure Plan is actually pretty good. It really restricts development and protects those shoreline reed beds for nesting habitat. There is something called the Migratory Birds Convention Act, which is a legislative act, so it has legislative teeth. If people infringe on the act, they can be charged,” said Hayward.
It is not legal to allow reed beds to be destroyed, because they provide a nesting habitat for migratory birds said Hayward. Aquatic plants, including the reed beds, also decrease erosion of the shoreline.
“Under the migratory waterfowl act, migratory waterfowl nesting habitat is protected. The current Crane Lake Area Structure Plan shows the zoning and reed beds,” said Hayward.
Hayward said that although the ASP highlights reed bed areas, boat docks have still been built on the reed beds.
“They’re allowing people to put docks right in the nesting habitat. What it has done in effect, is it’s driven these water birds right off the lake - they're gone.”
Council asks questions
During the Crane Lake ASP public hearing, Coun. Dana Swigart said that Hayward brought up some good points and acknowledged the sensitive nature of Crane Lake.
Swigart inquired about which departments get involved with looking after the lakes and making sure they aren't damaged. MD of Bonnyville planner Lyndon Shea, who presented the Crane Lake ASP, said Alberta Environment is the regulator of all lakes and bed shores in the province.
Swigart followed up by asking when they get involved – or if they only get involved when someone “raises a red flag.”
“In my experience they do not really get involved at this level within an ASP. If a landowner nearby did have concerns, they would bring those up to their MLA and we would go from there,” said Shea.
Migratory birds and more
Hayward said she has watched the migratory bird population dwindle, as the number of boat docks increases at the lake.
“There was quite a significant population of Red-necked grebes and the loons on Crane Lake. Now, I’ve only found two nesting pairs of loons, the Red-necked grebes are gone, the Black terns - there's only a couple pairs left,” said Hayward.
The reed beds also create a habitat for the high levels of small fish in Crane Lake, that protected birds like Great blue herons and Sandhill cranes rely on, according to Hayward.
“The birds and the fish have just as much of a right to be here as we do.”
Hayward recalls when she first moved to the Crane Lake area in 1997 with her children.
“You'd wake up in the morning in the summer and you would hear this loud bird noise, we were two acres back from the lake, and if we’d go down there and look, there would be 30 or 40 pairs of the Red-neck grebes calling and calling. Now they're gone. We’re seeing loss of species after species and it’s heartbreaking,” said Hayward.
She explained that a weir had been placed in the Lake, in order to increase water levels, and it has since been vandalized. Paired with recent droughts further decreasing water levels, and the loss of aquatic plants that help keep the water temperature down, the habitat has suffered.
The high number of boats on the small lake has consequences beyond noise pollution. Siltation that happens when boats churn up the water makes it difficult for diving birds to hunt due to low visibility in the water, explained Hayward.
“Potamogeton is a common species – they reoxygenate the water, and help the lake stay healthy in the winter under the ice – they actually produce oxygen under the ice, that's why you can still do so much fishing. The boats churn up the shallow water and they rip out the plants. These plants are critical for the lake to stay healthy,” said Hayward.
Keeping a close watch on the health of the lake for many years, Hayward has been anticipating consequences.
This summer, she noticed blue green algae. “I’ve never seen it before on the lake. I knew it was going to be coming but I was surprised to see it. So, we have increased eutrophication,” said Hayward.
During her presentation to council, Hayward expressed her love of Crane Lake and how concerned she is about the high use of the area.
“People use the lake as a playground, and they don’t recognize the high value of the ecosystem. Instead of being a playground for their own interests, it should be seen as a valuable resource for its clean water alone – plus the high biodiversity,” said Hayward.
The ASP will come back to council at a future meeting for consideration.