CEWF Priorities for 2025
The Coalition for Equitable Water Flow, (CEWF), is a coalition of 32-member Lake
Associations which represent 86% of the Trent Severn Waterway’s (TSW’s) reservoir lake
storage capacity. and covers the sub-watersheds of the Gull, Burnt & Mississagua Rivers plus
Nogies, Eels & Jack’s creeks. The Coalition aims to represent the interests of shoreline property
owners in the “Haliburton Sector” of the Trent watershed, also referred to as the Upper Trent
Watershed (UTW). The UTW includes 35 Reservoir and several Flow-Through Lakes (RaFT
Lakes) in Haliburton County and northern Peterborough County. The CEWF was originally
formed in 2006 to provide input to the Federal Panel on the Future of the Trent Severn
Waterway. Since then, the CEWF has evolved to provide effective liaison between the Coalition
members and TSW management on advancing water management issues affecting the lakes and
rivers of the UTW. The Coalition is led by a ten-member Executive Committee.
The CEWF has an agreement, known as the Upper Trent Water Management Partnership
(UTWMP) with the six local municipalities covering the RaFT Lakes area: the Township of
Algonquin Highlands, the Municipalities of Dysart et.al., Minden Hills, and Highlands East in
Haliburton County, and the Township of North Kawartha, and the Municipality of Trent Lakes
in northern Peterborough County. The UTWMP is able to speak with a single voice with federal
and provincial authorities on water management issues affecting the RaFT lakes. The CEWF
Chair, CEWF Vice-Chair and one other CEWF Executive Member serve on the UTWMP
Council.
The CEWF’s Objectives
• To promote an Integrated Approach to Water Management at the Watershed Level
that will improve water conservation while recognizing the environmental, public safety, social
and socio-economic constraints of managing the water resource. For this initiative, the CEWF
will work independently as well as through the UTWMP.
• To maintain on-going dialogue with TSW management to ensure mutual
understanding of local issues with respect to TSW management of water levels and flows in the
UTW.
• To promote shared information and knowledge of water management issues and
practices primarily to Coalition lake associations as well as for all stakeholders across the entire
Trent watershed.
• To promote approaches to ensure safe navigation, access to waterfront property,
economic sustainability and the avoidance of negative environmental and economic impacts for
residents on the RaFT Lakes.
The CEWF’s Priorities for 2025
1) The CEWF will continue to liaise with the TSW to support their evolving
implementation of an Integrated Approach to Water Management at the Watershed level.
2) The CEWF will continue to liaise with member lake associations, with regular
communications, including a direct outreach to the associations’ Board of Directors, to raise the
level of understanding of water management issues.
3) The CEWF will continue to enhance a calendar-based communication strategy using the
upgraded CEWF website with further enhancements and other communication methods.
4) The CEWF will monitor the work on the Haliburton County Flood Plain Mapping
project, and determine appropriate communications with Haliburton County and RaFT Lake
Associations.
5) The CEWF will continue to monitor the TSW Capital Program and engineering reviews
in the RaFT Lakes area, provide regular updates to our members, and ensure the participation of
our member associations in project consultations as appropriate.
6) The CEWF will continue to work with TSW to improve the information content of the
TSW water management web pages and improvements to lake-specific water level graphs
The CEWF Executive Committee Members 2024/2025
Ted Spence, Catchacoma Lake, Chair, Bruce McClennan, Gull Lake, Vice Chair,
Roger Cunningham, White Lake, Secretary/Treasurer
Geoff Byford, Mountain Lake Bill Cornfield, Horseshoe Lake,
Chris Riddle, Director Emeritus, Carol Moffatt, Beech Lake
Martin Rist, Drag & Spruce Lakes, Will l’Heureux, Hall/Hawk Lakes
Rita Moore, Kushog Lake