The HHLPOA would like to hear from its members.  We welcome articles,  poetry, photos, and other appropriate information.  Maybe it’s a sighting, historical piece, memory from a summer gone by, how to, or something really bothering you.   Please e-mail us your ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS.

HHLPOA Newsletter

Please click on VIEW NEWSLETTER (284 KB PDF) to read the Fall/Winter 2009 Newsletter and become more informed about current issues that the HHLPOA is addressing.

CEWF (Coalition for Equitable Water Flow)
November 2009 Update

TSW Water Management Program includes setting up a Program Advisory Council

“To assist Parks Canada, and reporting to Peter Frood, a TSW Waterway Water Management Program Advisory Council is being formed. Its mandate is “to provide expert and stakeholder advice on how Parks Canada can best carry out its responsibilities.”

Membership on this Council will consist of a Chairperson, 3 water management experts from federal and provincial government departments, 2 representatives from selected industry organizations, and 3 stakeholder representatives, one each from the Haliburton reservoir
lakes area, Kawartha lakes region, and the Trent River watershed area.

The Advisory Committee of CEWF has been given the opportunity to nominate a representative to the Council for which a name has been provided to represent the Haliburton interests. The first meeting of the Council is expected to be in January.

We are extremely pleased with this recognition, and the importance of the RAFT lakes to the whole watershed.”  <Read More>

Letter published in the November 19, 2009, Haliburton County Voice on page 5

To The Editor, County Voice, Haliburton

As Vice-President of Halls Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association (HHLPOA), I am writing in response to your recent articles regarding Roger Young’s comments on Parks Canada’s plans for the TSW.

For many decades HHLPOA has voiced concerns with the TSW over the management of water levels in the reservoir lakes.  Those concerns have consistently fallen on deaf ears.  When the Government commissioned a Panel to investigate and develop recommendations for the management of the TSW, the HHLPOA determined that the approach was sound, exhaustive and inclusive.   It was our expectation  that the recommendations would provide an equitable solution to the many challenges of managing such an important and critical part of our environment and we looked forward to the results.  To ensure our perspective was considered, we joined CEWF and have been a strong supporter of their efforts.  The report did not disappoint.  Indeed, when the Panel’s report It’s All About the Water was finally published, one of the key recommendations called for the establishment of a Independent Water Management Agency.  Our Association viewed this as a very positive step towards ensuring that the watershed would be managed with a view to sustainability and that all stakeholders' perspectives would be considered rather than the historical but narrow view of managing the canal  and dismissing the needs of a large and diverse stakeholder population.

It appears now that our elected officials have wasted millions of taxpayers dollars.  To say that we are disappointed in Parks Canada’s plans would be a gross understatement of our feelings.  Once again the reservoir lakes appear to have been marginalized and the comprehensive management of the entire watershed by a body charged to do so with all stakeholders at the table has been lost.  In this day of global warming and growing recognition of how very important it is to manage our water effectively, it is hard to believe that the people to whom we have entrusted this resource can be so short sighted.  

It is not acceptable to this Association to have a myopic and self serving view of “waterway”  as reflected in Parks Canada’s plans.   A comprehensive view of “watershed” as recommended in the Panel’s report is critical to ensuring that all stakeholders needs are taken into consideration.   

Carole Russell, Vice President, Halls Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association

First Snowfall 2009/2010

Below are two photograghs of the first substantial snowfall on December 9, 2009.  These photos show the Gull River and the Cranberry Lake area submitted by Robert McIvor.

Gull River	Cranberry Lake