Did You Know?
Cool Historical Facts:
Pine Lake was originally called Devils Pine or Ghostpine Lake…
Pine Lake became the main trading area east of Red Deer and Innisfail.
What you need to know as a resident or vacationer:
Click here for some great information from Alberta Environment about the management of chemically treated wood. Using treated wood near the watershed is NOT recommended!
Throwing your lawn cuttings into the lake promotes accelerated weed and algae growth in the lake! Please don't do this! Try a composte bin!
Another thing Pine Lake residents and vacationers can do that costs nothing extra and will reduce phosphorous loading to the lake appreciably is to start using phosphorous-free dishwashing detergent. It is now readily available in multiple brands and usually costs nothing extra!
Removing weeds and algae from your beach or water front area and then hauling them to deposit in another location in the lake is also horrible for water quaity! You compound the problem doing this and will again promote accelerated weed and algae growth!
Those basic maintenance things you do everyday could affect groundwater and lakes. Things like, leaving soil bare and exposed all season long, or using the wrong nutrients to fertilize your lawn or using too much, or failing to have your septic system pumped out, can really add up and damage lakes.
Many North American lakes are challenged with water quality and have investigated the use of fertilizers on properties surrounding the water or surrounding upstream run off. It's easy to make a difference, simply make the switch to a phosphate free fertilizer which is readily available and usually costs the same. Interested what has been studied? Considering an alternative approach for fertizing your lawn? Click here for more information on how to positively impact Pine Lake water quality.
Pine Lake falls into the eutrophic category because it is a shallow lake with a large amount of development and there are many sources of pollution in its large watershed.
A watershed is an area of land that catches snow and rain and seeps or drains into marshes, streams, rivers, lakes or groundwater.
Introducing new species of fish into a lake would outcompete existing species for food and habitat and damage or even destroy the existing natural ecosystem.
