Cottage owners fighting to save Skeleton Lake from drying up

The lake 160 kilometres northeast of Edmonton has bared an extra 70 hectares of shoreline. Broad, sandy beaches are everywhere and boats dodge unfamiliar, protruding rocks.

If the lake loses another 11 centimetres of water, an even more dramatic change could occur.

"We're very close to having two lakes instead of one," said Brian Curial, director of the Skeleton Lake Stewardship Association.

That's how much water is left in the narrows, a slender strip of the lake that connects two larger portions.

The lake has shrunk steadily since 1997. Almost 200 concerned cottage owners met at the Beverly Recreation Centre in Edmonton Wednesday night to discuss solutions.

The stewardship association, with about 1,300 members, hired scientists to dig for answers. What they've discovered is that the lake seems to rely heavily on groundwater. In turn, this means only wet years allow the lake to recharge. Unfortunately for the lake, those wet years don't seem to occur much anymore.

There is still much to learn, though. Scientists say they need to find out exactly where groundwater is entering the lake and in what quantity. It's also suspected that groundwater is leaving the lake.

Curial said thermal photography this summer will show cold spots in the lake, which could pinpoint the location of the underground springs that feed Skeleton Lake.

The group has asked the Village of Boyle, population 844, to find another source of drinking water besides the lake. Curial said the village has agreed and will join an Athabasca regional pipeline system in 2009.

They're also looking at the 300 wells operated by property owners around the lake, since that groundwater would potentially have ended up in the lake otherwise.

Curial said the group also wonders how much impact development has had. In the past 20 years, the deforestation rate in the area has almost doubled and the number of lots had more than doubled. That increases evaporation and can divert or block water from flowing into the lake, he said.

There will be another public meeting on this topic on Saturday, June 9 at 10:30 a.m. in Boyle at the Boyle Community Centre.

hbrooymans@thejournal.canwest.com

© Edmonton Journal 2007