Windsor, N.S., farmers voice support for maintaining Lake Pisiquid

An emergency order declared by the provincial government on June 1 saw the closure of the Avon River aboiteau gates at the Windsor Causeway and the refilling of Lake Pisiquid.

For local farmers, the increase in water levels was welcome and supported.

“The lake is very important to us in agriculture,” said Windsor-area farmer Nicholas Juurlink. “There’s a lot of water-withdraw permits that we use out of the lake and the river system. It’s really the river and the lakes holding capacity, the water-holding capacity, that we rely on.”

Juurlink is president of the Hants County Federation of Agriculture, which has been advocating for the continued closure of the aboiteau to maintain Lake Pisiquid.

“We need water,” said Paul Taylor, a local a dairy farmer. “Its been a very dry spring, and they’re projecting a very dry summer. And this water in this lake would be very beneficial to agriculture.”

Taylor also said Lake Pisiquid plays a major role in the community’s economy and history.

“The community built itself around it,” Taylor said. “It effects agriculture…brings a lot of recreation to the area in Windsor, a lot of dollars over the summer, which builds the businesses up, and, in effect, puts more money into their coffers, which hopefully lowers taxes to the residents.”

The lake was refilled for the first time in three years as a result of an emergency order by the province during the wildfires.

Farmers in the area want this temporary measure to become permanent.

“If there’s a drought, that’s a major issue,” Juurlink said. “We’re blessed with rain for the past two weeks, its great. But the month or two months before that, we were extremely dry.”

“In a world where we rely on fresh water for food production, I don’t understand the concept that you would give up that ability to produce food.”

Jurrlink said the wildfires brought major stress to the area about fire safety as fire hydrants were “basically dry.”

“In this area, we had very little water-holding capacity for a fire and we had to stop pulling water for irrigation purposes.”

Lake Pisiquid, a man-made lake, has been a part of the community since the 1970s. It has become a regional tourist attraction in the summers and a place for outdoor activities.

“I hope the water is going to stay,” Taylor said. “It’s going to go back to the original level it was before it was emptied three years ago.”

Local fishers and Indigenous groups, however, say the closure of the aboiteau to fill the lake has led to the death of fish that are unable to swim through and disrupts fish passage during spawning season.

Additionally, the refilling of the lake at this time of year meant the loss of bird nests, which were washed away by the return of water.

“As far as fish passage, we’re 100 per cent behind that,” Taylor said. “I don’t think anyone isn’t. To address that, put a fish ladder at the causeway.”

Juurlink said there’s been a lot of ‘knee-jerk reactions’ and emotional responses. He believes there is a solution for everybody to move forward.

“It’s definitely possible to have fish passage and fresh water. So maybe we just have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what that system looks like.”