Muskoka groups plan to put road salt issue on federal table

The battle to tackle road salt issues with Muskoka area lakes has been heard at the municipal level, with actions moving toward the provincial table.

Jim Davis, who is a director with the Gull and Silver Lakes Residents’ Association as well as a member of the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed, said the two groups, with support from the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition, are planning to petition Environment and Climate Change Canada — formerly known as Environment Canada — to adjust the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for soft water lakes due to the impact of road salt seeping into area lakes.

“We will be asking them to recognize the current level for chloride at 120 mL/l is too high,” he said. “The guidelines are fine for hard water lakes, but they’re not appropriate for soft water lakes, and our lakes in Muskoka are soft water lakes.”

The aforementioned groups have been working together to combat the road salt issue across the province before turning their gaze to the federal landscape.

The Friends of the Muskoka Watershed estimated in 2022 there was an estimated 15,000 tonnes of road salt in Lake Muskoka.

The District of Muskoka projected roughly one-quarter of lakes sampled by officials now have chloride levels above the 10 mg/L mark.

The safe level of sodium chloride — road salt — for Muskoka-type lakes with their soft, nutrient-poor waters is 10 mg/L of sodium chloride.

Stats from the Gull/Silver lakes association’s 2022 study indicated Gull Lake had a level of 17.9 mg/L of chloride while Jevins Lake, just south of Gravenhurst off Highway 11, is the saltiest lake in Muskoka with 113 mg/L of chloride.

Dr. Neil Hutchinson of Friends of the Muskoka Watershed said the federal government declared in 2001 that road salt is considered a toxic substance.

Neil Hutchinson photo

The cause to take the matter to the federal level has one notable advocate in the form of Dr. Neil Hutchinson, a retired aquatic scientist, Bracebridge resident and director with the Muskoka Watershed Council and Friends of the Muskoka Watershed.

He said while the use of road salt is a provincial matter, he would support the groups’ ask of the federal government to adjust the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for soft water lakes.

“I go one step further because at Friends of Muskoka Watershed, what we would like to do is do our own calculations and do our own review and develop a soft water chloride code line that would apply to our waters in Muskoka,” he added.

Hutchinson went on to say the federal government did in 2001 declare road salt to be a toxic substance.

“Environment Canada and Health Canada did that. And several years later they followed that up by setting the Canadian Water Quality Guideline, which is an estimate of the safe amount of road salt that aquatic life can tolerate,” he said.

The District of Muskoka became the first Ontario municipality to pass a resolution declaring the need for provincial action on salt pollution from road salt.

The resolution, which was approved at the council’s March 17 meeting, commits the district’s ongoing efforts toward the reduction of road salt as much as possible, while maintaining safety on roads and sidewalks.

The resolution also urged the Ontario government to create and fund an expert stakeholder advisory committee to advise the province and municipalities on the best courses of action to protect freshwater ecosystems and drinking water from the impact of salt pollution.

The district also asked the province to work urgently with private contractors in the snow and ice management sector to establish enforceable training and a single set of provincially endorsed standard best management practices.

“It was important to council to support this really unique initiative that has brought together the landscaping industry, environmental groups, and resident associations here in Muskoka and elsewhere,” district chair Jeff Lehman said days following the march 17 meeting.

“ We know that lake health is affected by road salt, and we want to be part of the solution across the Province to this important issue. Muskoka’s own organizations are at the forefront of this already, because in Muskoka our natural environment is so essential to everything about our region.”

Davis said the groups will not be stopping at just petitioning the federal agency on the guidelines on road salt in the coming days.

“We will be delegating to the councils of Bracebridge, Muskoka Lakes, Lake of Bays, and Georgian Bay to ask them to pass the same or similar resolution as the district just passed,” he said, adding Gravenhurst council passed a somewhat similar resolution in July 2023.

The advocates will be working with the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition to get many municipalities across Ontario to pass a similar resolution.

“We are continuing to work with Landscape Ontario to encourage the provincial government to adopt limited liability legislation for private contractors in the snow and ice management sectors, many of them are members of Landscape Ontario.”