By Anthony Keenleyside

As an Ottawan who is also a summertime resident at Green Lake, since 1962, I look forward to Chris Judd’s columns. They are a very happy mixture of farming history and that rare seasoning, common sense. His most recent piece (“Signs and balance”) was no exception.

The part about the birds and the bees was informative — now there is a line that can be interpreted more than one way — but what really struck a chord was the section about the beavers. We have all seen the destruction that these “non-certified engineers” have caused, but in the case of Green Lake, they actually render a valuable service.

The lake is fed by springs and drains through a creek. Every year the beavers build some form of dam on the creek that sets the water at a certain level. Perhaps not surprisingly, not every cottage owner wants the water at exactly the same level. For years we agreed to apply for a provincial licence to trap beavers and lower the level of the dam somewhat and this seemed to work.

Sadly, last year someone decided that the level was too high and, without advertising the fact in advance, and apparently without any licence, unilaterally destroyed much of the dam. The water level dropped to an all time low (at least since 1962) within a few days. Water intakes and wells were dangerously exposed, boat propellers were scraping the bottom as people docked and the entire shoreline of the lake and its ecosystem were dramatically affected. A drop in lake level of about six to seven inches means you suddenly have about two extra feet or more of beach and everyone has that much further to drop from a dock before they hit the water. That can be an issue for our grandkids.

In response, we posted a respectful request on the Green Lakers Facebook page asking for the unnamed individual(s) to contact us prior to this year, to see if we could co-operatively work out a solution to the water level issue. No reply. This year the water was at a good level (for most of the lake at least) until early August. In a week, it dropped seven inches, we were given a picture of the beaver dam – with its centre third entirely removed. So much for co-operatively addressing common environmental issues.

The most logical explanation for this secret activity is that one or more — possibly illegal — septic systems are too low at historically normal water levels and, as a result, are in danger of possibly backing up. Levels are not lower than they were in the 1960s and the right thing to do is obvious. If a septic system is too low at normal water levels, or if it is just plain illegal, it needs to be replaced in a proper, MRC compliant manner. That is the legal, the inevitable and the right thing to do. If something as basic as getting rid of your own human waste safely is too expensive, then so is cottage life. At some point, someone from the municipality or MRC will come knocking to inspect all our systems and, for a few, the jig will be up.

Speaking of which, remember when the provincial government announced about eight years ago that over the next five years they were going to check every waterfront septic system in the province for compliance? Bravo. They did a somewhat similar roll-out with municipal addresses, so we thought they meant it.

We are still waiting. Apparently the province decided instead to download that responsibility to the municipalities, which have not yet been able to undertake that massive task (in Clarendon, at least) and when they do, it will of course be a case of the largest waterways getting the attention first. Good luck to Green Lake. I know, I know, first world problem.

Well, not quite. One bad septic system in a small lake such as ours can mean a lot more trouble for a lot more people than one bad septic system on the Ottawa River. Especially in a lake, as compared to a river which generally has greater flow and thus a better (but still not very good) crude cleansing system.

What is the solution? The Clarendon Municipality says that it is the MRC’s responsibility. The MRC says that if people have legal access to the beaver dam (or if the land owner does not know that they are trespassing), they can do little about it.

What kind of answer is that? How does getting a landowner’s consent to grant legal access to land logically mean that the recipient can then unilaterally lower the water level of an entire lake? What does MRC stand for; Municipal Regional Consent? Our tax dollars hard at work. And the result is that the entire lake level is at the mercy of a few cottagers with too low and/or illegal septic systems, who care less about the lake level for all, than their own pocketbooks and non-compliant systems. In what world does any of this make sense?

They clearly know that what they are doing is wrong, otherwise they would announce to the world that they are just doing us the favour of correcting the inappropriately high water levels.

And the ultimate irony? If the municipality or the MRC eventually checks all septic systems for compliance at a time when the beaver dam is blown apart, all systems may pass.

Thanks again Chris, for raising the issue of beavers. Unfortunately your concluding view that “mankind is slowly learning how to work with nature instead of killing off or destroying everything that today we think is unnecessary” is a bit too optimistic for this Green Laker.

Does anyone have an opposing view, or better yet, a viable solution?

Anthony (Tony) Keenleyside is a retired Ontario lawyer who has been a summer resident at Green Lake since his parents bought their family cottage in late 1961.