Peace and Environment News* February 2002
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Peace and Environment News * February 2002 |
by Margaret Parlor
Dry conditions over the summer led to lower water levels at Mud Lake and on the Ottawa River. With rains last fall, the river rose again, but Mud Lake remained low. This may have come as a surprise to many, but not to well-known naturalist and local resident Dan Brunton.
"Mud Lake is a distinct pond and not a bay of the river. It operates as a separate though connected system," he says.
Lower water levels revealed many logged tree stumps in Turtle Bay (at the southwest corner of the lake) and along the shore. While a few stumps can still be found in the woods dating from the late 1800's when the J.R. Booth lumber company owned the land, these stumps date from more recent times.
What is now Turtle Bay used to be a silver maple and elm swamp. With the construction of the water treatment plant in the late 1950's, the level of the lake rose enough to flood the swamp and kill the trees. In wintertime around 1970, a crew was hired under a federal government make-work program to "clean up" the area. The crew cut down dead trees from both the Lake and the wooded area and hauled them away.
"Unfortunate" is the word Dan Brunton uses to describe this activity. "Dead trees decay slowly, providing food, shelter and other resources for a myriad of organisms, eventually being recycled back into their ecosystem. In the process they provide nesting sites for hole-nesting birds like Tree Swallows and Wood Ducks, critical basking areas for turtles, and organic material for the next generation of soil within a natural habitat." He went on to observe that by removing trees in the wooded area and opening up the forest canopy, this woodland "improvement" also encouraged the rapid spread of sun-loving poison ivy along trails. Thirty years later, the canopy is at last filling in and the poison ivy is starting to decline.
The National Capital Commission is the current owner of Mud Lake and the surrounding woodland area. Under today's land management policies for natural areas, a similar "clean-up" would not be allowed. Thus, for example, the NCC does not intend to clean up the numerous trees and branches in the Mud Lake area which fell during the ice storm. The reason for leaving the material in place is to encourage biodiversity and ecological integrity.
The most important recent change in Mud Lake, in Dan Brunton's opinion, is the improvement in water quality. Storm sewer construction in the mid-1990s diverted waste water from Lincoln Heights, parts of Britannia village, and parts of Britannia south of the bike path into a new settling pond. "Mud Lake is no longer the dumping ground for a huge amount of residential runoff, including lawn fertilizer and pesticides, car oil, road salt, etc.—to say nothing of pet waste," he states. "The improvement is very noticeable, both to the eye and to the nose."
He points out that a thick band of oxygen-depleting algae used to grow around the shore of the lake every summer. "This summer was an ideal summer for such growth, but it just didn't happen. That's because there were far fewer pollutants for them to grow on."
Over time, he expects Mud Lake water to become even cleaner. With that, we should see healthier and more diverse aquatic life. The dense thickets of Button-bush standing in the shallow water of Turtle Bay and towards the outlet of the lake, for example, will hopefully re-establish and once again provide cover for turtles and small fish as well as nesting sites for marsh birds. And with improved populations of aquatic vegetation to feed upon, we may again see successful breeding by Pied-billed Grebes in Mud Lake (if marauding Canada Geese don't get them ).
Margaret Parlor is a frequent visitor to Mud Lake.
(Originally printed in the West End Chronicle, December 2001.)
Converted February 17, 2002 - Lg
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