b'Lake Scugog Enhancement Project Support for investment in Lake Scugog enhancement has been further reinforced in the many letters of support received for the project:Scugog Chamber of Commerce:The health and vitality of Lake Scugog is para-mount to the health and vitality of our economic drivers within our communityBusiness Improvement Association:A healthy lake is crucial to our local economyMississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation:A much-needed community project which will support First Nation recreational, social, economic and tourism needsOntario Tech University:The Lake Scugog Enhancement Project, Bene tsattributedtoLakeScugogareesti- only impactssh habitats but also limits boat traf- which will undoubtedly provide a range of bene ts to Lake mated at $38.8 million per year of which $34.1 It also creates excess sediment, reduced bio- Scugog and the surrounding region. cA project of the million is attributed to recreation and aesthetics.diversity including depletion ofsh species, and,Ducks Unlimited Canada:Situated within 90 minutes of Canadas largestwith the presence of blue green algae blooms, aThis project will help provide bene ts to Lake population center, Lake Scugog is also an impor- health threat.Scugogs environmental health, to the municipality and the community.tant destination supporting recreation and tour- .ism. A Toronto Star Travel excerpt noted that itsOntario Streams:in proud partnership with rare for an upland Ontario town to communicateProposed restoration efforts will bene t aquatic so respectfully with its own landscape with theand terrestrial species through the creation of downtown sweeping directly down to the Lakevaluable wetland habitat.Scugog shore. Theprojectsdetaileddesignisnearingcompletion Lake Scugog constitutes an important naturalalong with the permit application process required by the capital asset to the Durham Region and Port Perrynumerous government regulator that have jurisdiction community that is important to protect.Like allover matters pertaining to the lake. Fundraising for this assets, managing natural infrastructure requires$5M project continues to be a priority given a planned investment to maintain the lakes functions andconstruction start of fall 2021. The last number of years improvetheservicelevelprovidedbyLakehave been spent seeking funding from various levels of Scugog. government as well as non-government grants. The LSEP This is not straight forward as Lake ScugogCommunity Campaign will be launched in early sum-becomes increasingly eutrophic. An overly abun- mer to close the funding gap. To that end, given ongo-dant richness of nutrients from urban storm watering COVID restrictions, the Community Campaign will runohas accelerated the eutrophication process.be virtual. An exciting LSEP fundraising website will be It needs to be noted that nearly 40% of all theWiththeobjectiveofsigni cantlyreducinglunched in the next few weeks that will enable wide inter-suspended solids entering Lake Scugog throughecological decline, the Lake Scugog Enhancementactive community participation and engagement.storm water runoare discharged via the PortProject (LSEP) will be a lake enhancement invest- More to come.Perry core to Port Perry Bay. Eutrophication re- menttargetingthePortPerrywaterfrontand sults in excess aquatic plant growth which notPort Perry Bay that will entail the removal of 15Pat Bunting, LSEP Fundraising Leadacres of aquatic vegetation, the establishment oflsepfundraising@gmail.com416-409-8296appropriate navigation depths in the Port Perry harbour, the creation of a 4 acre enhance wetland tolter critical outlet storm water, the building of.VIRTUALadditional oil and grit separators with the wet-land contained by a 245-foot berm with walking trail complete withshing pods. Scugogsgreatestassetisthelake;natural infrastructure investment provides triple bottom line returns in the form ofsocial, andnancial, ecological bene t.Thecommunityrecognizesthisasdemon- On May21st, Pine Ridge Garden Clubs virtual plant strated by the results of the Townships Strategicsalewillbeontheirwebsite.Plantsorderedwillbe Plan survey, which indicated that Lake Scugogspicked up May 29th at an address to be determined at this waterfront/shoreline/trails were ranked as a pri- time.For more information on this busy and friendly ority. Speci cally, the Lake Scugog EnhancementClub please call Shirley 905-986-5330 or go to the Clubs project was ranked as a waterfront priority. website:pineridgegardenclub.com32 FOCUS - MAY 2021'