Thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday, 3 June 2023 to help clean up Wabagishik Lake on the Vermilion River! An especially BIG THANK YOU to the Basso family who provided lunch again this year for our hungry clean-up crew! It was a feast for all, with barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs, tasty salads and cold refreshments! A great time was had by all and we collected a huge pile of garbage! Thanks again to our membership!!
VRS strongly supports the proposed amendments in Part 4, General Provisions, Section 4.41 Waterbodies – Water Frontage, Setbacks and Buffers as follows…
Along its course, the river widens into several lakes, including Onwatin in Hanmer; Kusk off Panache Lake Road (watch out for leeches); Grassy; and Wabagishik, out on the fringes of Ward 2. Lake Wabagishik was made famous by the Group of Seven. Franklin Carmichael painted the lake in 1928 and if you have ever paddled along its waters, you will understand why he was inspired. At the southern end of Wabagishik is a set of rapids where the river narrows once again. It is very picturesque.
I fell in love with the Vermilion River last year when I decided to paddle this stretch in early October. The colours were just starting to pop and the riverbanks were explosively yellow and bright. It was like travelling through the sun. I bottomed out about six times and had to drag my kayak through the chilly shallow waters, but it was well worth the effort.
Check out Mary Katherine Keown’s article about her adventures on the Vermilion River here.
The Vermilion River and its connecting lakes should be promoted and recognized as a Heritage Feature because of its rich cultural, historical and social value. The Vermilion River is not even mentioned in the Plan, which we submit is a major gap.
Home and cottage owners on Ella Lake and a stretch of the Vermilion River have been experiencing water levels much lower than usual this year, and Vale has issued the following information:
The Spanish River system has been used for waterpower generation for more than 100 years. Vale owns and operates 15 main water control structures and 5 generating stations while Domtar owns and operates 5 main control structures and 1 generating station.
The Spanish & Vermilion Rivers Water Management Plan sets out the details of the operation and management of each waterpower and control structure within the Spanish River and Vermilion River Watersheds. This plan was prepared by the Spanish & Vermilion Rivers Water Management Planning Team, and is available for viewing at this link.
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out on Saturday, the 29th of June, to help clean-up the Vermilion River and Wabagishik Lake. A special thanks to the Basso Family, the Whitefish Lion’s Club, and Chris’s Your Independent Grocers, for providing our volunteers with a hot and tasty lunch. As you can see we collected a lot of garbage again this year – a very productive and fun day!! The poison ivy was abundant, so please remind us next year to hold the event earlier when plants are not sprouting. :-/
Also thank you to Hiamedia for donating our beautiful new Vermilion River Clean-up signage! You can reach Hiamedia through their website at: www.hiamedia.com
Check out the photos:
An excellent presentation at our Annual General Meeting by Mike Jenson, Director of Water/Wastewater Treatment and Compliance. If you have any questions about the presentation, please send along an email to info@vermilionriverstewards.ca.
It is crucial that we reject Bill 66, as risky development decisions made in this jurisdiction or adjacent municipalities could have negative impacts on Sudbury’s air, land and/or water, as well as the Great Lakes and many other highly valued ecosystems. Being “Open for Business” is a good thing, unless it is at the expense of public health and safety or the environment.
The ECO’s report listed 44 municipalities across Ontario that continue to use Combined Sewer Systems (CSSs); however, the City of Sudbury was not included in that list in spite of the fact that we have several wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with CSSs within the Vermilion River Watershed.