PATTERSON LAKE NEWSLETTER

October 2004

www.magma.ca/~bowerman/pattersonlake/

Mid-Summer Lake Level Proposed

A good discussion was held on mid-summer lake levels at an open meeting of the Patterson Lake Association a 636 Fairs Lane on August 8, 2004.

As could be imagined, there are a wide variety of opinions. In the end, the meeting proposed a mid-summer level of 8" above the bottom of the north culvert.

To be perfectly clear, the discussion and proposed level deals with the mid-summer level only. Historically the Lake starts at about 18" (above the bottom of the north culvert) in the spring, then goes down to 0" in mid-summer, and rises to 18" again in late fall. The Association is proposing retaining 8" in mid-summer rather than letting it go to zero. This will help all those who boat on the eastern end which is quite shallow.

Dave MacCrimmon will be contacting the Ministry of Natural Resources to find the procedure of moving the proposal forward. It may go; it may not. We will try.

Fall Culvert Cleaning

Keeping the culverts open in the fall is essential to ensuring a reasonable lake level with minimum damage to the shore. It will also ensure that the risk of road washout is kept to a minimum. There is full agreement of owners on this basic need.

Yes we know that the Township has the responsibility to clean the culvert, and they will be asked to do it when there is more than a bit of debris or a small beaver dam. It needs day by day surveillance and that cannot be expected to come from the Township unless the road is in danger.

At the Lake Association meeting, the following cleaning times were agreed.

• 10 Oct to 23 Oct - Lakeside Rd;

• 24 Oct to 6 Nov - Fairs Lane/Way;

• Nov 7 to 20 Nov - Parsons Lane/Way;

• Nov 21 to Dec - Porcupine Way; and,

• 4 Dec to 18 Dec - Hardwood Ridge Rd.

The cleaning within each time frame is left to the discretion of each area. We used this area method last year and it worked well.

Hazard Marking

The marker buoys placed by the Association on the shoal west of Mary's Island and in MacCrimmon Bay will be removed after Thanksgiving and stored for the winter. They will be given a fresh coat of paint and placed out again in the spring.

Lake Steward Appointed

From time to time the owners of property on lakes get together under the leadership of the various conservation agencies. For our area, the Mississippi Valley Conservation organization performs that function. It usually features a day of workshops on good lake management. The lead person from each lake is called a Lake Steward.

Terry Wilkie of Fairs Lane was our Lake Steward when he served on the Lake Association executive. When Terry turned the Association job over to another representative, we had a problem because being a lake steward requires continuity. Terry was requested and he agreed to carry on.

We are very pleased to appoint Terry as our permanent Lake Steward. He brings dedication, determination, good research skills, and a great interest in the subject to the task. The Fairs Way/Lane representative will act as the contact between Terry and the Association.

Fish, the Lake Bottom, and Thermoclines

For Christmas last year Lorne Bowerman was given a fish finder/depth sounder. The unit was designed for a large motorboat rather than Lorne's aluminum rowboat with a 5 HP Honda motor. It took a while to adapt and provide 12V power for the unit, but it finally happened.

Yes it does spot fish. But what was far more interesting was the profile of the Lake bottom. We were startled to see the huge rock outcroppings on the bottom near Mary's Island. We were expecting probably a flat bottom, but it is really a continuation of the surrounding rocks, hills, and valleys.

And it really falls off on the north side of the shoal near Mary's Island. At some time it would have been a cliff with a good view of a valley below.

The maximum depth we found was just over 60 feet, but it may be more in some lake bottom valley.

The other thing that it shows is something called a thermocline, which happened to be about 40 feet. We were not quite sure what it was, but Lorne and Connie's daughter, Joy, who did post graduate work on fresh water lakes, provided information on the significance of the thermocline.

In fresh water lakes there is a temperature separation between the very cold lower water and the warmer upper water. It is a sharp separation rather than a gradual one and it is generally in the order of a 10°C or more change. It shows up on the sounder as a broken line.

The thermocline is flat. So if you want to measure it accurately, just head to shore and find where the thermocline intersects the bottom.

Nutrients gather at the bottom of fresh water lakes where there is little aquatic life. To make these nutrients available, lakes turn over once or twice a year to bring the bottom water to the top, and the top to the bottom.

We thought that was kind of neat. But in millions of years, nature does work out everything and it always seem to surprise us for some reason.

We plan to record the depth of the thermocline next summer just to see if we can tell when the lake turns over. Maybe we should have a big TURNOVER PARTY to celebrate.

A Mystery Padlock

While playing down at the shore at 151 Lakeside Rd. six year old Alex Dee found an old padlock. It was well rusted and looks at least 75 years old. It has the key hole on the front and a small brass cover that slides over the key hole. It was probably used to padlock a boat to the oak tree on the shore.

Oh if it could only talk! Grandfather Lorne Bowerman is attempting to find the origin of the lock and hopes finally to see it go to a local museum. Ideas?

Newsletter

This Newsletter was produced by Lorne Bowerman. Comments, suggestions, or articles are welcome.