Letter to the Editor:
I almost had to chuckle at L. Cashman’s letter of dismay published in the most recent Barrhead Leader. No, it was not in mockery or disagreement, but in empathy and understanding.
Here at Lac La Nonne, residents and visiting lake users face the same political obstacles as do the concerned people who live at and use Thunder Lake.
Years ago, the pre-LEPA group of concerned citizens hosted a public forum about the declining health of Lac La Nonne, and at the head table were invited representatives from County of Barrhead, Lac. St. Anne County, Alberta Environment, Federal Department of Fisheries, and the local MLA of the day, I believe. I may even be missing some. In my naivety, I remember thinking that, hey, we’re going to get some real action regarding lake health issues from finally having all these people sitting down together at the same meeting. Well...
I have never experienced such a “passing-the-buck,” “not my jurisdiction” bunch in my life. Not one panel member nor any department would accept any degree of responsibility whatsoever when it came to overseeing any aspect of the lake’s health. The default response of the day seemed to be that it was the local farmers’ and the residents’ fault that, for example, we were responsible for the annual algae blooms and the weeds that were (and continue to be) taking over the lake.
We were also told that we simply had to accept the natural life cycles of the lake, however no account seems to have been made for the tremendous increase in the number of users of the lake over the years. Not only that, but those in the audience were informed that the lake doesn’t belong to residents and recreational lake users, but to all Albertans, and yet those very officials representing all Albertans were (and continue to be) content to sit on their collective hands, draw taxpayer-provided salaries, and yet do absolutely nothing but waggle their fingers at us all.
As a result, the lake’s health continues to decline . . . weed beds are now vast and growing which stops the movement of water and collects patches of blue-green poison, and each year the weeds die and sink to the bottom and decompose using oxygen in the process which results in the winter kill of many fish. Guess what? The next year, the same process happens all over again but to a greater extent because the decomposing weeds from the previous year act as fertilizer for the new year’s weed growth.
At what point can we expect a concerted effort on behalf of all Albertans by all involved government agencies to address these and other issues for all Alberta lakes? All we hear about are the evils of fossil fuels, the carbon tax money going into general revenue, and government make-work programs (read: “diversification”) to save the planet through expanding LRT in the big cities, and changing light bulbs and shower heads. When will governments of the day and elected officials realize that there is more to their job description than ‘green’ grandstanding in the media, and that the true environmental legacy we leave our future generations will be in the responsible stewardship we demonstrate today in all aspects of this beautiful province?
Howard Saumer
Lac La Nonne
