ARE OUR BEACHES SAFE FOR SWIMMING? LET'S FIND OUT
By John H. Neil M.A., C.P.H.

The clear clean water surrounding Tiny Township is our most precious resource. It is the reason the cottagers come and Tiny's inland residents are drawn to the shores, but are we sure the water is as clean as it looks? If you ask this question, there is no definitive answer as, apart from half a dozen public beaches which the Simcoe County Health Unit routinely monitors and a few private beaches where beach associations have had a little testing done, no comprehensive sampling has been conducted.

So how can we be sure that the water we swim in and some of us use as a drinking water source is really safe? Over the past couple of months Judith Grant, President of the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations and the author, a biologist and long time summer resident of Thunder Beach have been working on a plan for a one time comprehensive study of water quality as measured by E. coli over the forty-five miles (72 kilometres) of shoreline surrounding the Township and that of Farlain Lake. The plan we are proposing for the summer of 2001 is to organize a weekly collection of samples to be tested for water quality from all populated shorelines over eight or nine weeks of the summer. As influent streams, drains and ditches are frequently the source of contaminants, they will also be sampled each week. To complete such a comprehensive and ambitious program, in the order of 150 samples per week will be required.

Is an effort of this magnitude really required? After all, we have been swimming along these beaches for many years. Maybe the water is entirely safe. Yes, maybe, but surely it makes sense to know for sure. After all, Walkerton residents thought they had a safe water supply and more recently North Battleford, Saskatchewan, got an unpleasant surprise. Closer to home a swimming advisory was issued at Lafontaine Beach at the 16th Concession last summer and a few disturbing results have surfaced from private sampling at other beaches.

If we assume hard data on water quality is better than "ignorance is bliss," who should be responsible for assuring users of the shoreline of the quality of our swimming water?

The responsibility for managing water quality in Canada is divided among Federal and Provincial and Municipal agencies. The Federal Government conducts studies of broad significance on international waters including Georgian Bay. It conducts comprehensive studies and research on the open waters and manages the lakes under various treaties with the United States through the International Joint Commission. The Province, through the Ministry of the Environment, manages near-shore quality in the Great Lakes and inland waters. It is responsible for enforcement over sources of pollution. But its Great Lakes program has been reduced to six permanent and casual staff who sample a half-dozen index stations in Georgian Bay one year in six. Closer to home the Simcoe County Health Unit has staff assigned to water quality evaluations as they relate to the health of the people. The Health Units are funded by the Ministry of Health and the County and their swimming water evaluations are mandated only to public beaches and their laboratory can only analyze samples collected from these beaches by their staff and, of course, samples from private wells.

The question we faced in organizing a broad survey of the shoreline was how could this be done? The answer seemed to be by organizing and training volunteer samplers from the beach associations and finding the money to pay for coliform analyses to be done in an accredited private laboratory.

The first step in the planning process was to determine where the samples were to be taken, the frequency, how many samples in total and what the cost of analyses would be. Our obvious first contact was the Health Unit staff. A meeting with Mr. Ted Devine their water specialist in Barrie and Mr. Eric Watson of the Midland office was most rewarding as they offered both moral and practical assistance within the limits of their jurisdiction. At a subsequent meeting with Eric Watson, a specific plan was drawn up whereby the number of public beaches they would sample was expanded and their frequency of sampling increased from biweekly to weekly. They also agreed to provide a half-day training session to volunteer samplers, selected from the beach associations, to ensure all sampling was done according to their protocol. On the completion of the summer program, either Eric Watson or John Neil would be prepared to analyze the data gathered and provide a report of findings.

On April 30, a presentation on the proposed study was made to the Tiny Township council meeting. At that time, we requested financial support to cover the cost of analyses for samples submitted to a private laboratory, estimated to be between $3,000 and $6,000. Council seemed favourably disposed to the idea and undertook to request a staff recommendation with an answer to be provided May 14. Their subsequent written decision said that scheduling problems would occur if they were asked to assist with delivery of samples and that they believed only the Health Unit should do sampling.

Some financial support by Council would have acknowledged their interest in the 6,900 shore area taxpayers who pay more than 80% of the townshipÕs taxes and who travel to Tiny having an unsubstantiated belief that all waters are safe to use at all times. While disappointed, we believe that with the support of the cottager associations, the volunteer help already committed and with the assistance of the Health Unit, the program can and should proceed this summer. Perhaps Council will reconsider when the full plan has been established and a more precise cost determined.

The quality of beach waters is a subject on the agenda of most beach association meetings and concerns are raised about the streams, culverts and ditches that drain into the shore through populated areas and carry runoff from inland agricultural areas. What happens when heavy rains swell the flow of these drainage systems and how is it dissipated when the water reaches the Bay? What is the best means of evaluating and measuring its effect on the receiving waters?

For our survey, we have selected E. coli as a tracer. The Ministry of Health Beach Management Protocol states that "Posting should be considered when the daily geometric mean of the samples from the beach exceeds 100 E. coli per 100 ml. water.'' For drinking water, no E. coli can be present. (E. coli is generally a benign bacteria present in large numbers in the intestinal tract of all warm-blooded animals. For many years it has been used as a measure of bacterial quality in drinking and swimming waters on the theory that it demonstrates recent fecal pollution that may be associated with disease organisms. Its numbers can be readily determined using a "standard method," in the laboratory and results are available following a culture period of 24 hours. While E. coli was not thought to be pathogenic, the recent identification of the 0157:H7 strain carried by some cattle, sheep, goats and deer was the causative agent for the illness and deaths that occurred in Walkerton.)
So what might we expect to find when the results of this study are published? Hopefully it will demonstrate that virtually all shorelines are safe and free from contaminants. It may also show that most streams and drainage are of acceptable quality. There may be, however, specific polluted or questionable waters that have not heretofore been identified and where the focus of remedial action can be directed. We hope also to be able to measure the broad effect of a monitored rain event on the quality of influent waters and the dissipation of these effects in the Bay.

Should problems be identified this year, further sampling of local areas should follow correction of the problem. When this study has been completed, we will have a knowledgeable and trained group of individuals and a suitable laboratory available so that individual associations can make their own decisions on any future water testing.

This is an important opportunity for all beach users to assist in understanding and preserving our most precious resource. We will need dependable volunteer samplers and donations to help pay the cost of analyses {$7.00/sample} but when it has been completed and the results published, it will be a contribution the participants, hopefully including the Township, will have made to the well-being of our community.