As explained on the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit website, “bacteria levels can increase in recreational beach water due to heavy rainfall, cloudy water, a large number of swimmers, a large number of birds, shallow water, wet sand, wind and high waves.

coli are occurring in the first place can be attributed to multiple sources. And last year alone, a host of local beaches were closed due to unacceptably high levels of bacteria, including Sunset Point in Collingwood, Washago Centennial Park Beach in Severn and Mackenzie Park Beach in Tay. coli bacteria, which when deemed too high, can result in beach closures. Because every year local health authorities collect water samples from public beaches to test for levels of E. When you contrast those numbers with other parts of the globe where water has become so scarce that some experts predict it could eclipse the value of gold, then on the surface, things are swimmingly good.īut back to reality, that’s when you can swim. The Great Lakes alone, which of course includes Georgian Bay at our doorstep, is the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, accounting for 18 per cent of the global stock of fresh surface water. And from sea to sea to sea, our landscape is dotted with over two million lakes and rivers, equivalent to 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater supply. Because after all, we do live in a land of plenty, don’t we?Ĭanada is one of only two countries in the world (Russia being the other) bordered by three oceans. No one would blame you if you concluded that these storylines sound more like something out of a science fiction novel versus real-world news. A classic example is Stewart Lake in the Township of Georgian Bay, where just last year the Simcoe District Health Unit advised locals against swimming, fishing or using the water for drinking. In recent years our water quality has been threatened as well. And as one television station described it, Wasaga Beach was “swallowed” by rising water levels. High water and violent waves led to the closure of waterfront paths in Owen Sound, threatened the survival of a shoreline pavilion in Meaford and caused major erosion in Collingwood’s Sunset Park. Fast-forward to just last year and communities from one side of the Bay to the other were experiencing devastation brought on by historic high levels of water.

One might reasonably conclude that this ominous messaging is linked to such faraway places as Africa, Australia or even Southern California – parts of the world that consistently make headlines tied to serious water challenges.īut the reality is that this water crisis is just as relevant to what’s going on right here … where we eat, sleep, work and play.Ĭonsistent with the real-world ebb and flow of our shoreline, eight years ago the education and scientific group Georgian Bay Forever announced the results of a NASA mapping study, which concluded that between 19, Southern Georgian Bay lost almost 11 per cent of its wetlands due to historic low water levels. The announcement goes on to observe that the knock-on effect of these events has included “water pollution, water scarcity, water-related disasters and damage to healthy freshwater ecosystems.” This in turn has negatively impacted on “our rights to life, health, water, sanitation, food, a healthy environment and an adequate standard of living.” That’s the stark message of a United Nations news release distributed earlier this year, which proclaimed that “three-quarters of all natural disasters in the last 20 years were water related, including floods, landslides and other extreme weather events.” We have a global water crisis and it’s getting worse.

Watershed moment