News coverage
The MLBMS would like to thank Clayton Brown for the great news coverage just before the 2012 AGM in July. Watch the news clip here and please share it with your friends and neighbors at the lake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQDwdALt49A
Our email response sent December 15, 2012 from MLMBS President to Minister McQueen requesting something be done for Muriel Lake:
Dear Minister McQueen,
It is not my intent to wage a paper war, but I feel I must respond to your email of December 13th and your letter dated November 22, 2012.
As a matter of information we have yet to receive your letter of November 22nd that you state had been mailed. Its now in excess of three weeks since the date of the letter and its still not here.
We are encouraged that you will be engaging Albertans on water quantity and quality issues on Provincial lakes that are experiencing fish kill and other problems during summer and winter months. What discourages us however is the fact that Muriel Lake is being placed under this same umbrella. Muriel Lake is in far greater stressed condition that any of the other lakes that have been reported on in the media in the past. As such it requires immediate attention and should be looked at in isolation.
Added to the low water level of the lake (likely less that 15 ft in its deepest part) is the fact that there are no longer any sport fish left in the lake. Recolonization of these fish is therefore impossible if there are no adult fish left to propagate. Restocking in its current state is certainly not an option. The longer we go without increased water level and fish the less the lake becomes a desirable place to visit and enjoy. We therefore must act quickly.
We suggest that the Province may in fact be part of the problem in its handling of all the activity that is going on in the drainage basin. The lake is surrounded by major high grade roadways that have few culverts installed to allow proper surface water flow. As such the lake is essentially encircled by “dams”. Many side roads to industrial sites may also be a problem. This is why we stand by our position that a full study is required to see if these issues are in fact a problem and what can be done to start getting water back into the lake. Other scientists have come to the same conclusion that land use changes may be a problem and recommend that this should be investigated.
It would appear to us that an independent study would be in the Province’s best interest to prove what your own scientist have been saying.
We appreciate that the winter groundwater study is proceeding this year as well as the monitoring of known wells in the basin to see if groundwater might be leaking through the bottom of the lake. We would however like to see the process expanded to drill other monitoring wells around the lake, especially on the south side.
In conclusion we will continue to press for a full independent arms length study to determine why Muriel Lake does not recover during years of higher than normal precipitation. We are approaching the forty year timeframe since it reached its highest level which in itself would suggest something serious is wrong in the drainage basin.
