Sunfish Lake Association
Encyclopedia
The Sunfish Lake Association is a non-profit association of individuals and property owners with the common goal of protecting the environment at Sunfish Lake (Ontario)
and the surrounding Waterloo Moraine area. Since its founding in 1959 the association has consistently undertaken a wide variety of environmental stewardship efforts to help care for this rare meromectic lake and the surrounding natural area.
is a rare meromictic
lake approximately 21 meters (70 feet) deep located atop the Waterloo Moraine north-west of Waterloo, Ontario
. It is the source of Laurel Creek and is one of only a few meromictic lakes identified to date in North America. The small surface area of the lake (25 hectares) combined with the extreme depth of the lake creates the meromictic conditions where the surface and bottom layers do not mix and the water remains in stratified layers with the deepest portions of the lake totally devoid of oxygen. This rare and unique situation makes the lake vulnerable to environmental damage and precautions need to be taken to ensure the lake environment remains stable, the waters don't intermix, or the lake turn over.
and Jack Hutchison to educate area landowners and implement leading environmental practices including the banning of motor boats, pesticides, fertilizers and pesticides from the lake area. Throughout the 1960s the ecological health of the area improved and in 1978 the Association co-ordinated the creation of Sunfish Holdings, Inc. to purchase environmentally sensitive lands surrounding Sunfish Lake to guarantee future protection.
In the 1980s an intensive program of harvesting charra to remove an abundance of nutrients in the lake was undertaken along with liming the lake to counteract the effects of acid rain. Stewardship efforts continued in the 1990s and 2000s with efforts to control purple loosestrife, a new forest management program and considerable efforts to protect a broader area around the lake with the Laurel Creek Headwaters Environmentally Sensitive Landscape greenbelt initiative.
Sunfish Lake (Ontario)
Sunfish Lake is a small, 25 hectare meromictic lake located north-west of Waterloo, Ontario in the village of St. Agatha in northern Wilmot Township, and is the source of Laurel Creek. It is one of a few meromictic lakes in Ontario, that is, its deep bottom waters are totally devoid of oxygen...
and the surrounding Waterloo Moraine area. Since its founding in 1959 the association has consistently undertaken a wide variety of environmental stewardship efforts to help care for this rare meromectic lake and the surrounding natural area.
| Sunfish Lake Association | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1959 |
| Purpose | Environmental Protection |
| Region | Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener.... |
| President | Kevin Thomason |
Background
Sunfish Lake (Ontario)Sunfish Lake (Ontario)
Sunfish Lake is a small, 25 hectare meromictic lake located north-west of Waterloo, Ontario in the village of St. Agatha in northern Wilmot Township, and is the source of Laurel Creek. It is one of a few meromictic lakes in Ontario, that is, its deep bottom waters are totally devoid of oxygen...
is a rare meromictic
Meromictic
A meromictic lake has layers of water that do not intermix. In ordinary, "holomictic" lakes, at least once each year there is a physical mixing of the surface and the deep waters...
lake approximately 21 meters (70 feet) deep located atop the Waterloo Moraine north-west of Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
. It is the source of Laurel Creek and is one of only a few meromictic lakes identified to date in North America. The small surface area of the lake (25 hectares) combined with the extreme depth of the lake creates the meromictic conditions where the surface and bottom layers do not mix and the water remains in stratified layers with the deepest portions of the lake totally devoid of oxygen. This rare and unique situation makes the lake vulnerable to environmental damage and precautions need to be taken to ensure the lake environment remains stable, the waters don't intermix, or the lake turn over.
History
The Lake Association was founded in 1959 by Edna StaeblerEdna Staebler
Edna Staebler, CM was a Canadian author, best known for a series of cookbooks, Food That Really Schmecks, based on Mennonite home cooking as practiced in the Waterloo Region....
and Jack Hutchison to educate area landowners and implement leading environmental practices including the banning of motor boats, pesticides, fertilizers and pesticides from the lake area. Throughout the 1960s the ecological health of the area improved and in 1978 the Association co-ordinated the creation of Sunfish Holdings, Inc. to purchase environmentally sensitive lands surrounding Sunfish Lake to guarantee future protection.
In the 1980s an intensive program of harvesting charra to remove an abundance of nutrients in the lake was undertaken along with liming the lake to counteract the effects of acid rain. Stewardship efforts continued in the 1990s and 2000s with efforts to control purple loosestrife, a new forest management program and considerable efforts to protect a broader area around the lake with the Laurel Creek Headwaters Environmentally Sensitive Landscape greenbelt initiative.