Support Province-Wide Water Monitoring: Defend the Lake Partner Program
Community-led environmental monitoring isn't just good policy—it’s an essential tool for an ethical and effective democracy in a world awash in pollution, rapidly changing ecosystems, and deteriorating habitats.
Swim Drink Fish has worked with community water monitoring hubs from coast-to-coast since 2016 and has been monitoring Canadian water for nearly 25 years, supporting the idea that real protection starts with real data, gathered by those connected to the water.
Today, a cornerstone of Ontario’s volunteer-led water monitoring is being threatened: the Lake Partner Program and the longstanding and impactful partnership between the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA) and the Ontario Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP). FOCA has been active in the LPP since 1996, but as of March 31, 2025, it is without a renewed agreement, putting this summer’s monitoring at risk.
While we are proud of the government’s past investment in this program, accelerating climate impacts and mounting stress on freshwater systems make it clear: community-led monitoring must be strengthened—not scaled back.
(LPP volunteer, Elizabeth Favot, collecting a water sample from Lake Nipissing, CBC)
Climate change is warming our lakes, intensifying storm events, and fuelling harmful algal blooms—many of which pose serious risks to drinking water, recreation, and aquatic life. In addition, urban sprawl, the loss of over 70% of Ontario’s wetlands, and poor waste management have all contributed to degraded water quality and frequent toxic conditions for humans and animals across the province. Under this myriad of threats, the ability to track long-term changes in nutrient levels, water temperature, and clarity is more essential than ever. Programs like the Lake Partner Program are critical for understanding and responding to these emerging threats.
(A Blue-Green Algal Bloom, MECP)
In water advocacy, good data makes for good decisions and safe water use. When community members participate in monitoring, they become informed stewards of their lakes and partners in conservation—not just passive recipients of government messaging. For a government that prides itself on “common-sense governance,” cutting a cost-effective, volunteer-powered, science-based program is anything but sensible.
Having quality data that the public can rely on allows community members to challenge government decisions, become engaged stakeholders in conservation and resource decisions, and help shape the future of their watersheds. Without long-term data on water levels, clarity, and nutrients, we're missing a significant data source that will allow for proactive management decisions.
Swim Drink Fish strongly supports community science initiatives like the Lake Partner Program and its work across hundreds of lakes in Ontario. The government should not only maintain, but also strengthen its support for the hundreds of volunteers who collect this vital data and protect their lakes.
For more information, read FOCA’s open letter. Then, contact your local MPP and MECP Minister Todd McCarthy, using the FOCA’s template letter.
Cutting the Lake Partner Program would not only weaken our ability to respond to climate-driven water threats—it would silence the voices of hundreds of Ontarians working to protect their lakes. Tell our government that cutting the Lake Partner Program is not just bad environmental policy—it’s a blow to democratic participation in protecting our shared waters.
