Residents in the many villages around Moose Lake are worried about the local water body's steady decline in quality.
Water samples and data have been taken from the lake for the better part of the past three decades as locals monitored the condition of the popular water body.
Recently the lake has taken a turn for the worst and in 2013 it hit alarming levels.
“The numbers taken from 2013 basically put (Moose Lake) in the same boat as Jessie Lake,” said Grant Ferbey, a resident of the Summer Village of Bonnyville Beach. “It came close to becoming a glorified slough and very rarely can lakes recover from that.”
The phosphorus, chlorophyll and nitrogen levels all doubled from their usual averages, jumping up an alarming amount, which worried many involved with the Moose Lake Watershed Society.
After peaking in 2013 the phosphorus, chlorophyll and nitrogen levels have all come back down and now only sit slightly higher than the norm.
“Last year was the clearest the water has ever been,” said Ferbey. “After being the worst the year before.”
Ferbey is unsure what has caused the levels in the lake to jump in 2013. He, along with others that live around the lake, has been studying the data associated with the water body to try and find reasons for the spike.
“We look for a magic bullet; one thing that will fix the problem,” said Ferbey, referring to one resident wanting to dredge the bottom of Moose Lake.
“Everybody wants to put the blame on one thing, but it is a lot of things.”
According to Bradley Peter of the Alberta Lake Management Society (ALMS) high levels of nutrients combined with higher-than-normal surface water temperatures were behind the 2013 decline in water quality.
“In the past decade we have had the highest surface water temperatures ever recorded in Alberta,” explained Bradley.
These two factors have led to more and more blue-green algae blooming throughout Moose Lake.
“Moose Lake is naturally green, so we have to expect for some greenness,” said Peter.
While the lake has always been known to have algae blooms appear, residents feel these blooms are getting worse as the water quality continues to decline.
“The algae is lasting longer into the season,” said Ferbey. “We used to get a bloom and it would be gone and the rest of the year would be fine. Last year the algae stayed right up till the end of October. I couldn't believe there was still green scum on the lake.”
Ferbey feels that development around the lake over the last several decades has been part of the problem for the declining water quality.
According to Ferbey the MD of Bonnyville and Alberta government put a moratorium on development around Moose Lake back in the 1970's when there were just 200 cabins and 500 undeveloped lots. Studies revealed that more development around the lake at that time would be too much for the water body to handle.
At some point over time the moratorium was lifted and more and more villages and cabins were built with small communities developed.
“I am not totally against development if it is done in a way that will have the least amount of effect on the lake,” said Ferbey.
Development has continued around the lake with residents building on all of their land, even if it means going right down to the water, says Ferbey.
Ferbey would like to see the MD and local villages start enforcing the rules around shoreline development a lot more than in the past in hopes that it will eventually deter people away from development.
“There are some instances where people have been fined and told to reclaim the land, but it's not very often,” said Ferbey. “Until the governments, MD and Summer Villages start imposing some meaningful fines and reclamation I think the abuse will continue. The rules are in place. We just need enforcement.”
