CEWF Priorities for 2024
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, 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 Panel on the Future of the Trent Severn Waterway. Since then, the mandate 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 nine-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., the 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 2024
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, including a direct outreach to the associations’ Board of Directors, to raise the level of understanding of water management issues.
3) The CEWF will develop and execute a calendar-based communication strategy using the newly upgraded 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 2023/2024
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