A group of residents is calling on the Halifax Regional Municipality to take action in saving Williams Lake, which is part of the Shaw Wilderness Park, from disappearing.
The Williams Lake Conservation Company and newly-formed Williams Lake Dam Association says the lake is leaking water to the tune of more than one million gallons a day.
As a result, most swimming areas are difficult to reach, and the shoreline has been reduced to boulders or mudflats.
“We are down over five feet of water,” said Margo Kerr of the Williams Lake Dam Association. “It’s very difficult to get in for a swim, or for anybody in the community to use the lake.”
The public access at the west end of the lake for kayaks and canoes has also been turned into an inaccessible mudflat, according to the two organizations.
The Williams Lake Dam Association is working with the Williams Lake Conservation Company (WLCC), which has been the caretaker for the lake since 1968.
“We need to act and bring attention to this now, with time, energy and dollars to restore water levels to maintain the park’s greatest asset, which is the lake itself,” said Margo Kerr of the William’s Lake Dam Association.
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The problem, according to Kerr, is water draining out of the lake into the North West Arm under a dam.
Kerr says an engineering company assessed the dam in 2004 and found that water was leaking under the dam at a “fairly high” rate and recommended that a new dam be built.
“The leakage under the dam is the single biggest impact to our lake level,” Kerr said. “The lack of water inflow, lack of rainfall, builds in the watershed area and evaporation are all issues, but Williams Lake would be like other lakes around here if water was not leaking out under the dam.
“Let’s fix the one thing that we can fix…The Dam.”
Murray Coolican, president of the WLCC, says “the park and Williams Lake are important ecological and recreation assets for HRM, and as owner of the Park we think HRM should lead the effort to repair the dam.”
Kerr wants to make the future of the lake an action item for the new council after the Oct. 17 election.
“That is the only thing we have control over,” she said. “We can’t control global warming, we can’t control all the water coming in from rainfall, but we can control the dam.”
Halifax Regional Municipality has invested $4 million in the Shaw Wilderness Park, according to WLCC. The federal and provincial governments each contributed $1 million.
District 9 Coun. Shawn Cleary says he’ll be putting a motion forward to look at ways to fix the dam.
“Hopefully that advice and research can come back to council and we can make a decision to help us protect our investment with the Shaw Wilderness Park that we’ve just made.” ‘
Kerr says that needs to happen quickly in order to salvage what’s left.
“It would not take that much to be able to replace this damn, and have it working, bring the lake levels up. It’s the only thing we can control,” she said.
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