Halifax Regional Council takes first step toward saving Williams Lake before it’s gone

Halifax Regional Council has taken its first step toward protecting Williams Lake, a popular urban lake that is disappearing at an alarming rate.

For years, its water levels have declined by an estimated one million gallons per day or more, leaking out through a faulty dam and into the Northwest Arm.

Last summer alone, the lake dipped a total of five feet, and last week, the municipality’s standing committee on environment and sustainability voted to investigate the decline in an effort to find a lasting solution.

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It’s a notable decision, said committee member Shawn Cleary, who is also councillor for the district that covers Williams Lake, because lakes and rivers do not fall under municipal jurisdiction, and dams are not something they normally take a look at.

“However, we just made a major investment — over $6.5 million in the Shaw Wilderness Park along the edge of Williams Lake — and so now we have a vested interest and the dam is on part of our land as well,” he explained.

Cleary’s motion, which passed unanimously on Dec. 7, directed city staff to determine the cause of Williams Lake’s decline and recommend potential repair or replacement options for the dam, along with other ways to stop the leakage.

The report will also consider the role of climate change, municipal development, and any other relevant factors that may have contributed to the lake’s current predicament.

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The councillor said it’s a complex task and he doesn’t expect the report to come back before the committee for between six months and a year, but he’s not too worried the clock will have run out on Williams Lake by then.

“Remember, this body of water has been there for thousands of years — who knows how long. It’s been dammed for the last several hundred,” he told Global News.

“It’s been used for industrial purposes. It’s been used as Halifax’s original ice supply, it’s been used as a mill. And so I think traditionally before it was dammed it was a series of five little ponds. So, it’s not going anywhere, but what we do want is to preserve as much of the lake as possible.”

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That’s music to the ears of Margo Kerr and Murray Coolican, representatives of two groups working to protect the lake, the Williams Lake Dam Association, and the Williams Lake Conservation Company, respectively.

“I happen to live on the lake, but I also used the lake previously to moving on it,” Kerr said. “I used to come out windsurfing with my dad and fell in love with the area.

“There are so many parks. There’s so much to do, there’s hiking you can do — you’re next to nature. It’s just a beautiful area, and there are so many people that come to use it.”

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Earlier this year, Kerr and Coolican led concerned recreationalists in a bid to have Halifax Regional Council step in to stop the lake’s leakage.

They say fixing the dam is the simplest and quickest fix to the problem, although cooling down property and other developments on the watershed wouldn’t hurt either.

The Williams Lake Conservation Company, added Coolican, has years of research on the lake’s water quality and water levels that it’s happy to share with the municipality, including an engineering study it paid for out of pocket 15 years ago, that identified the dam as a problem.

“There have already been impacts on wildlife in the area. There’s a pair of loons that often nest and parts of their nesting area is not available anymore because there isn’t enough water,” he said.

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Editor’s Note: This article was updated at 1:53 p.m. AST on Dec. 16 to correct an error, removing Spryfield as the location of Williams Lake.