AREA LAKE IN TROUBLE

Skeleton Lake is frighteningly close to becoming bone dry. The water level of the lake, located 160 km northeast of Edmonton has dropped five feet in the past 10 years. Reasons for the drastic drop are being presented by the Skeleton Lake Stewardship Association (SLSA) at two town hall meetings, one in Edmonton tomorrow night.

"We're concerned about man's impact on the lake," SLSA Secretary and Director Brian Curial told Sun Media, referring to the cottages, campgrounds and roads that surround the small lake. Such development can impede the flow of water from the drainage basin into the lake, explains Curial. A major concern to the SLSA is the watershed ratio, which compares the land mass of the drainage basin to the surface area of water. Skeleton Lake's ratio is 4:1 while other lakes in the area can have ratios of 30:1 or 40:1. The result is a very clear, clean lake but one with very little inflow. A report on the state of the watershed will be presented at the meetings.

Another possible explanation for the diminishing lake is usage by the Village of Boyle, which taps the lake as its source of domestic water. Curial estimates that Boyle is responsible for a drop of one inch per year - but he stresses this is not an issue of the SLSA versus Boyle. The village has already agreed to switch their water source to a pipeline from a new water treatment plant in Athabasca in two years. "Boyle has agreed it's not sustainable and are committed to an alternative," said Curial, though the SLSA would prefer a switchover sooner.

The town hall meetings take place at the Beverly Heights Community Hall in Edmonton tomorrow at 7 p.m. and at the Boyle Community Centre on June 9, at 10:30 a.m.