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Zebra mussels in Lake Magog

By Bryan Laprise

Local Journalism Initiative

For decades, local non-profit organizations have been monitoring water quality in the region’s key bodies of water. For decades, poor water quality has been a major concern which has repercussions on public health.

Memphremagog Conservation (MCI) is a non-profit organization founded by three residents at a time the water quality of Lake Memphremagog was poor due to agricultural practices, logging and a lack of wastewater regulations. Today, it looks at the complete watershed to find solutions to protect the lake and its quality.

Some of its key projects include the conservation of land to protect the area around the lake and its watershed, working with municipalities, the provincial government and industries around the lake to make a complete portrait of the Memphremagog watershed.

“Not only do we have to look at the watershed, but we have to explain the importance of the riparian buffers,” explained Johanne Lavoie, volunteer present at MCI, who has been involved in the organization since 2008.

Riparian buffers are strips of land beside waterways that contain various trees, plants and shrubs. They act as a barrier between the land and water, partially filtering pesticides, waste and nutrients, strengthening the land to avoid erosion while also providing a habitat for marine and terrestrial life.

Zebra mussels

According to the Invasive Species Centre, zebra mussels can be found in freshwater throughout Canada, including Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. They originated from the Black Sea but were brought to Quebec from the big transport vessels on the St-Lawrence.

“Zebra mussels are an invasive species that take the place of native species by taking over the space where plants, rocks and where fish lay their eggs. Then they [filter] huge amounts of water leaving no food for the fish and other species around them,” explained Laurence Renaud-Langevin, the general director of Bleu Massawippi, during a phone interview.

The organization has been around since 1968 with the goal of protecting the water quality of Lake Massawippi. One of the organization’s main projects relates to the containment of zebra mussels, which first appeared in Lake Massawippi in 2021. In November, diving operations were conducted to retrieve them from the lake. Since then, there have been hundreds of days of diving to contain the issue.

The species also makes water more clear, making the sun go deeper down into the bodies of water. This increases the growth of underwater vegetation, such as algae. According to the Government of Canada, they cause millions of dollars in damage annually by clogging water treatment plants and damaging watercrafts.

“Zebra mussels are the perfect example of the loss of biodiversity,” said Lavoie.

They were discovered in Lake Memphremagog in 2017 and since then, the problem has only gotten worse. According to the MCI president, the presence of zebra mussels in the lake was caused by a lack of control of the equipment that was brought into the lake without being washed.

“An adult mussel lays between 30,000 to 1,000,000 eggs per year,” she explained. “The numbers are growing, we cannot do much about it, but we can make sure that other invasive species do not come into the lake.”

It is important for any equipment used on a lake to be washed before being used on another body of water to avoid the spread of species such as zebra mussels which were not previously present in that area.

Other big issues facing Lake Massawippi in particular include repeated rain. “It washes the surrounding land. Everything will come into the lake,” added Renaud-Langevin. Some of their other projects include protecting the watershed and fighting blue algae.

Bleu Massawippi is also on the hunt for alternative funding to continue their zebra mussel collection process. They’ve previously received grants from the government which aren’t renewable. Currently most of the organization’s funding comes from private donors which include the lake’s residents and different businesses.  “We don’t have any recurrent funds, every year we have to start at zero,” said Renaud-Langevin.

Forever chemicals

Forever chemicals are a class of thousands of man-made substances used in different products which have been found to affect human health including the development of cancer. Technically known as per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), there have been growing concerns about regulating these toxic chemicals.

“The Coventry dump site is the only dump site in Vermont,” said Lavoie, referring to the waste treatment plant close to the southern part of Lake Memphremagog near Newport. “We know that this is a pollution source that we have to look at.”

The lake provides drinking water to 185,000 people in the Eastern Townships, according to the MCI president, throughout Sherbrooke as well as parts of Magog, Potton and Saint-Benoit-du-Lac.

The dump site produces leachate (contaminated water from a dump site). It is not supposed to leak into the lake, as it is now trucked to different locations or treated on site. However, there is data that indicates that there are PFAS in the water near the dump.

“If we wait until the numbers and the concentration of PFAS are too high into Lake Memphremagog to act, it’s going to be too late,” Lavoie shared. “That’s why we are looking closely at the dump site to ensure the leachate does not ever come back into our watershed and that the treatment over there is secure.”

According to Lavoie, there are also PFAS flowing into the lake from the use of wastewater to irrigate fields. There are many different places from which these substances can enter. It’s important to make sure there are regulations in place to protect the water from these toxic chemicals.

The MCI president noted that many years ago, there was also a dump site near the lake on the Quebec side, but it was closed down around 15 years ago out of concerns for the water quality. “We’re asking the U.S. not to pollute us also,” she expressed.

According to Lavoie, there are reports showing there are cancerous fish and other species in the lake, for which the cause is currently unknown. However, she said that it is a testament to Memphremagog’s water quality.

Support

On May 22, Liberal MNA Virginie Dufour tabled Bill 995 which aims to regulate PFAS in Quebec. It does not propose regulations to PFAS but would mandate the government to study the situation and then create appropriate regulation. According to her, there is currently no regulation in place to regulate these forever chemicals in water nor in sewage sludge. It would force municipalities and landfill operators to test for these chemicals to ensure the environment is not getting contaminated.

“The standards [in regulations] in Quebec are not good enough,” Lavoie stated. In 2024, Health Canada published its objectives for the maximum presence of PFAS in drinking water, setting it at a total of 30 nanograms per litre for 25 substances. “If at least Health Canada guidelines would be applied, that would be great. Let’s start from there and then we’ll see.”

She clarified that PFAS groups together thousands of substances, so the regulations could always be better.

Lavoie also expressed that the collaboration of both Canada and the United States to make sure that similar guidelines which protect the water quality of the lake would be very beneficial.

It’s possible to support organizations such as Bleu Massawippi and Memphremagog Conservation in their mission to protect local bodies of water by becoming a member.. This way, they get some funding and new voices to share a new vision of the organization. Some also organize activities open to the public.

According to the director general of Bleu Massawippi, having a good water quality is “directly linked to public health.” By having high quality, people can enjoy their life and be healthier longer. She also added that when a lake’s water quality worsens, the real estate value of surrounding property also goes down.