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Morris Lake, Dartmouth

March 12, 2008      

Caution: Since Morris is a shallow lake, the standard limnetic (i.e., open water) trophic parameters may not represent the true trophic status of the lake

Contents

• Water quality, and general overview!
  • Future and monitoring
  • Total stormwater treatment recommended

• Events relating to the HRM's regulatory process
• Portland West development; August 10, 1993
• Strong concerns of stakeholders

• Thank you Evan Crowe, a dedicated local volunteer and a past resident at the lake for decades; and salutations Lcdr. Tom Willdey of Princes Lodge for his supreme volunteer dedication over decades all over HRM and its adjoining counties!

Water Quality

Select scientific modelling and chemical/biological limnology are part of our miscellaneous archives!

The bathymetric map; the morphological data; the watershed map; the location map; the flow chart of the Cow Bay River watershed; the paleolimnology of lakes in HRM; HRM's receiving water baseline sampling program for fecal coliforms

• Our one page overview on LCCs (based on TP) for Morris and Russell Lakes, Dartmouth pursuant to the HECC’s agenda for August 03, 2006  

  • Our two overview submissions to the Harbour East Community Council (HECC) dated June 22, 2006, and June 26, 2006 delve into considerable detail!  

  • The Harbour East Community Council (HECC) lost it's only opportunity of restoring Russell Lake by adopting the unscientific recommendations of the HRM's staff on August 03, 2006 with possible strong dissent of Councillor Gloria McCluskey. The unscientific recommendations of staff are enunciated in their June 16, 2006 and July 26, 2006 reports  
    
    • For sound LCC methodology, see the report by a leading worldwide scientist in this domain, Prof. Dr. Peter Dillon FRSC, and his collaborators!

    • Also read our Lake Carrying Capacities Homepage

  • The Predictive TP/Cha base model developed by Shalom Mandaville along with control field data elucidates total correspondence even with latter data! For a brief overview on our predictive TP/Cha modelling, see TP/Cha Models!

  • As the year-2004 CCME Policy on Phosphorus (TP) clearly narrates that not adhering to the reference/background (i.e., the natural pre-development value) + 50% maximum increase concept, even if they fall within the reference/background trigger ranges, could result in significant changes to the `COMMUNITY STRUCTURE' (cf. eutro1, and eutro2)!

  • Our original recommendation was not based on the CCME's year-2004 policy since the recommedations were developed during the mid-1990s. While the CCME's policy was based on a 1991 paper published by NALMS (Hutchinson et al., 1991), nevertheless, it was not the official policy of CCME until year-2004!  
    

Percent change in urban land use and indicators of stress:

Future and monitoring:

Since Morris is a shallow lake, the standard limnetic (i.e., open-water or pelagic) trophic parameters may not represent the true trophic status of the lake.

The limnetic parameters may not reflect changes in the watershed unless those changes are significant in relationship to the overall size of the watershed and/or in its prevailing inputs!

To reliably ascertain incremental inputs from new developments, outflows of every storm pipe outlet, of in-situ devices (e.g., CDS, Stormceptor or Vortechnics), of constructed wetlands outlets, and others have to be monitored almost on an hourly basis during runoff, and pollutographs have to be developed.

Total stormwater treatment recommended:

A note of caution: There have been conflicting results in the long term removal of typical stressors in storm drainage using constructed (or engineered) wetlands. Further, such wetlands have not had a successful history in the amelioration of acid drainage in HRM. Hence, the only sustainable methodology would be treatment of urban and suburban stormwater by traditional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) based on the tertiary removal process in the case of stressed lakes! This implies considerable capital costs and operation & maintenance!

The other option is to disallow any further development similar to what residents in Lower Sackville triumphed at Second Lake after years of intense lobbying! Even there, significant amount of chemical and biological limnology was conducted by us!

Events relating to the HRM's regulatory process

• Our two overview submissions to the Harbour East Community Council (HECC) dated June 22, 2006, and June 26, 2006 delve into considerable detail

• Submission to the Regional Council's public hearing on the Morris-Russell Lakes Secondary Planning Strategy: March 22, 2005 (the attachments here are slightly modified in order)  

• Public Info meeting re the Morris-Russell Lakes Development Area held on Thursday, December 09, 2004, at the Bel Ayr Elementary School (HRM's minutes relevant to our statements are only included)  

• Our email to Mr. Phil Elliott, Chair, Morris/Russell Lakes PPC, d/July 11, 2004, requesting for an opportunity to make a semi-scientific presentation to his municipal committee, and Mr. Elliott's immediate response d/July 13, 2004; there has been no interest from the PPC at this time, hence our request has been shelved!

• Our submissions to the HRM's Regional Council w.r.t the Public Hearing-Dec. 09, 2003: Case 00554-Re Expansion of Portland Hills, Dartmouth: portland_hills_031209_1a and portland_hills_031209_1b  
  

• Our important 4-page critique addressed to Roger Wells MCIP, Coordinator-Planning, HRM; July 07, 2001  
  

• Public Info meeting w.r.t the Morris-Russell Lakes Stormwater Management Plan; June 27, 2001

• Public Info meeting w.r.t Phase-1 of Portland Hills; May 31, 2000

• Email from Ms. Renee Roberge PEng asking for our advice; July 02, 1999

Public Info meeting w.r.t the Morris-Russell Lakes Stormwater Management Plan. Only relevant parts of the HRM's recorded minutes of interest to us have been inserted here in order to economize on web space; June 27, 2001:

Public Info meeting w.r.t Phase-1 of Portland Hills. Only relevant parts of the HRM's recorded minutes of interest to us have been inserted here in order to economize on web space; May 31, 2000:

Concerns of stakeholders (there were many others during the early 1990s)

• September 13, 2002
• An email appeal to Ms. Catriona Moir, Manager, Ecosystems Sciences Branch, NS Dept. of Environment; no response has been received to date; September 20, 2000
• January 25, 2000
• October 19, 1999

Acknowledgements

We salute the Chebucto Community Net (CCN) of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for hosting our web site, and we applaud its volunteers for their devotion in making `CCN' the best community net in the world!