Maple, Beech and Cameron Lakes Area Property Owners' Association

Your association is an active member in the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow (C.E.W.F.)

CEWF has been extremely busy this year in the hope of stimulating awareness of the need for significant improvements in approaches to Water Management by the Trent Severn Waterway.

The members of the CEWF Advisory Committee made presentations to all 5 area councils, as well as to other interested groups. These efforts were made to awaken them to the issues and encourage them to make their views known to the Panel on the Future of the TSW.

The CEWF Advisory Committee, together with our legal and planning advisors, prepared a comprehensive report including observations, conclusions and recommendations to the Panel. This report was submitted on August 14th, 2007 in Minden and is available for review on www.tswpanel.ca under "Presentations" and under 'Written Submissions" which is the formal document.

It is surprising how many people do not realize that the water from the reservoir and flow-through (RAFT) lakes is used for many purposes other than to maintain safe navigation within the channels of the Waterway.

In addition to fisheries and hydro power generation, several municipalities including the fast growing City of Peterborough, draw their municipal water from rivers which are fed by the water from RAFT lakes in the Haliburton Sector of the TSW. The Haliburton Sector of the TSW includes 6 watersheds; Gull River, Burnt River, Nogies Creek, Eels Creek, Jack Creek and Mississauga River. The demand for water has increased dramatically with the building of new subdivisions and many more are proposed. Lindsay also draws its water from the system and it too is growing rapidly.

This does not include water in worrisome amounts being used for commercial and industrial purposes.

On October 12th, 2007 the CEWF submitted its response to a study commissioned by Parks Canada entitled "Sustainable Economic Contributions to Communities along the Waterway." This study, yet again, virtually ignored the economic impact the TSW presence has on the communities within the source water region (The Haliburton Sector.) This is a major disappointment, however, our response, which is also posted on the TSW Panel web site clearly states that the communities surrounding the RAFT lakes need to be considered if they are to come to fair and just decisions. Please review the web site provided by Parks Canada that contains all the presentations and submissions made to the federally appointed Panel on the Future of the TSW. There you will see several documents submitted to the Panel by the (CEWF,) and many others, which are well worth reading carefully.

When the next federal election is called, it is very important for every single waterfront property owner to contact their local candidates to remind them that this Panel was appointed as a result of all parties supporting the call for a comprehensive review of the TSW. It is suggested that you urge your candidates to make themselves familiar with the material on the Panel web site to give them a clear picture of the concerns of the constituents.

Board of Directors

LAKE WATER LEVELS