The Muskrat Watershed Council and Algonquin College Waterfront Campus partnered with Watersheds Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation to bring the Love Your Lake program to Muskrat Lake in July 2017. Three summer students, Alexa Mantifel (Queen’s University), Brady Beaupre (Algonquin College), and Paul Cipriani (Algonquin College), as well as Agri-Environmental Research Intern Martyna Tomczynski (Algonquin College) pictured above, participated in the program by surveying more than 300 properties over a two-week period. Muskrat Lake property owners Andy Laird and Dave Thomassin volunteered their time by taking the team to conduct the shoreline assessments by boat.

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Students inputted the collected information onto the online Love Your Lake database that generated a lake health report for each property owner. These reports were made available to landowners in spring 2018 and included a personalized and confidential assessment report of their property. These documents can provide helpful suggestions and information on the state of each shoreline property, as well as recommendations on how to build and/or maintain a healthy shoreline. Having a healthy shoreline is important; shorelines provide food and shelter for wildlife, protect against erosion and act as natural filtration systems.

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A summary report was also created for all 327 properties on Muskrat Lake. This report summarizes the information on shoreline classifications, development, runoff, invasive species, habitat and recommendations and restoration opportunities. This report can be used as a source of information on the current physical conditions of Muskrat Lake and as a baseline to compare future surveys. It can also be used by the lake association and other partners to determine opportunities for restoration, education and stewardship on a lake wide level. If you would like this report it is available on our Reports Page

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If you are/were a resident of Muskrat Lake at this time and did not receive your personal shoreline property assessment and would like to access it, please contact us.