By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
On July 3, after several months of public consultations, the Ville de Cowansville unveiled a multifaceted protection plan for Lake Davignon, the synthetic lake that acts as the municipality’s main source of drinking water and a popular destination for recreational boaters.
“The action plan, adopted at the municipal council meeting on July 2, aims to ensure the protection of the lake’s ecosystem, to document current uses and to ensure access to the water body for the population,” city officials said in a statement.
“This action plan marks a crucial step in our commitment to protecting Lake Davignon. Close collaboration with our community and our valuable volunteers from the Comité de sauvegarde du bassin versant du lac Davignon (CSBVLD) was essential to developing sustainable solutions. Together, we ensure that the lake remains a natural gem for future generations,” Mayor Sylvie Beauregard said.
The plan, building on the 2018 action plan co-developed with the CSBLVD, includes 32 short-, medium- and long-term actions centred around three axes – preserving water quality; combatting the growth of invasive plants, specifically watermilfoil; and promoting safe and harmonious recreational use of the lake in light of growing crowds and the increasing popularity of electric watercraft.
The municipality plans to talk to boaters to raise awareness about safe and environmentally friendly boating practices; distribute erosion-preventing shoreline plants to owners of shoreline property; encourage homeowners to grow erosion-preventing rain gardens; consider expanding a municipal shoreline replanting project to include private land, potentially in partnership with the CSBLVD; upgrade aging water treatment infrastructure and continue to work with the MRC Brome-Missisquoi and the CSBLVD to monitor erosion and control invasive species, and discuss best practices in watershed management with other municipalities. The city also plans to maintain its current watermilfoil control programs and to scale up its optional “but strongly encouraged” boat-washing program, according to city environmental advisor Si-Lian Ruel. The city is considering making boat-washing mandatory, as the Town of Brome Lake recently has, and requiring a specific permit to access the lake, although no decisions have been made yet to that effect. The action plan also details measures to improve safety signage on the lake, raise awareness of safe boating practices and put in place a network of volunteer lake monitors.
City spokesperson Fanny Poisson said the municipality is “working on a cost-benefit analysis” of a possible motorboat ban on the lake, which would require Transport Canada approval. The action plan allows the city to put alternative measures in place and collect relevant data while waiting for a decision, she said. Gas-powered motors are already banned on the lake.
The action plan requires extensive community participation, from taking volunteer shifts to changing gardening, planting and boating practices. Poisson is optimistic the city will get buy-in from citizens. “The citizens are aware; they know it’s our drinking water. They are great collaborators,” she said.