MOE investigates algae on Kennisis River
News
Posted By Chad Ingram
Posted 1 month ago
Algae on the Kennisis River
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Representatives from the Ministry of Environment's Peterborough office are scheduled to be in Haliburton County this week, investigating algae that has taken up residence on the Kennisis River.
"They are supposed to be coming to look at the algae and what kind of algae it is," Algonquin Highlands Reeve Eleanor Harrison said Monday.
Harrison said she and township had received a number of calls about the low water levels on the river, which connects Big Hawk and Halls lakes, and the algae that was forming there.
One of those calls came from Joan Weir and Brenda Pettigrew, who live along the river and have never witnessed what they've witnessed this year.
While Weir said that during the winter the river was flowing at a much higher rate than usual, once March came "it just stopped."
And from March through until last week, the shallow and stagnant water became a breeding ground for some sort of greenish-black algae.
Pettigrew produced pictures of the stuff, floating atop the shallow water, more than an inch high in some cases.
Weir and Pettigrew had been in contact with the Trent Severn Waterway (of which the river is part) as well as the township and last Thursday, the TSW removed one of the logs from the dam at the Big Hawk log chute.
By Monday morning, there was enough water movement that the surface algae had been washed downstream from their home.
However, under the surface was a different story.
"The blackness is disconcerting," Pettigrew said, walking her property Monday morning and explaining how green the river's bottom usually is.
Instead, through the water, one can see greenish-black fuzzy stuff affixed to plants, logs and rocks.
"This is all white stones," Pettigrew said pointing to a swimming area. "We think it's dangerous for the river."
While Pettigrew said most years she'll see four or five pairs of mating ducks around the area, this was not the case this year.
Nor has she seen or heard as many frogs as usual.
Harrison said the ministry would be looking into any health implications associated with the algae and said that while the surface algae has seemingly been washed out of the river, the concern now is where it will end up on Halls Lake.
Elvin Johnson Park is located at the mouth of the river.
The Times attempted to contact TSW engineer Dave Ness to see if the increased water flow in the Kennisis River was directly related to the presence of algae, but was unable to make contact with Ness before press time.
