The community is trying to help make Jessie Lake look, smell, and feel better, by cleaning up around its shores.
Volunteers helped Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA) on Wednesday, July 4, remove trash and weeds from the Jessie Lake shoreline.
Executive director of LICA, and organizer of the cleanup, Arianne Crook said the event is part of a larger restoration program LICA is working on.
“We’re trying to clean the lake up to hopefully improve the air quality and odour of Jessie Lake,” she explained.
Groups of volunteers spread out from the Bonnyville splash pad along the shoreline, and worked on pulling weeds and picking up garbage.
“We’re weeding all the stuff that damages the lake and makes it smelly,” said Aby Campose, volunteer. “It’s important for the lake to stay clean. The stench tends to keep people away when they should want to come to enjoy the lake.”
There was no shortage of jobs for volunteers, and LICA offered chest waders for anyone interested in getting down and dirty.
“There was really something for everybody to do,” Crook said.
Along with pulling weeds from the shoreline, volunteers rounded up garbage and other debris.
According to Erin Ritchie, education outreach coordinator for LICA, cigarette butts are the most common waste found.
“There’s not a lot of places for people to dispose of their cigarette butts, and they just chuck it out the window or throw it on the ground.”
Removing trash from waterways is one method of preventing permanent damage to shorelines, and it inhibits wildlife from mistaking garbage for food, or getting entangled in things like rope, string, or nets.
These are things that can pose a threat to animals.
“They’ll eat it, and the plastics make them think they’re full when they aren’t,” Ritchie expressed.
The cleanup was meant to prep the shoreline for riparian trees LICA plans to plant later this summer. Clearing weeds away gives the trees a better chance of survival.
“It’s a part of our larger Jessie Lake restoration program, and the seedlings we’re going to plant wouldn’t be able to establish roots with the weeds that were there,” said environmental program manager Colin Hanusz, adding restoring the riparian area will allow the natural ability of the shoreline to filter pollution out of the water.
LICA focused on weeding problem areas around the lake, and hope to improve these areas after they plant the riparian.
“We just wanted to restore the woody vegetation so the lake can act in its natural capacity to filter itself,” he explained.
LICA is hoping that by planting trees, they will not only improve water quality, but also solve other ongoing concerns around the lake.
“Jessie Lake has been seeing a lot of erosion, and the species being planted are deep rooting plants meant to stabilize the shore,” expressed Hanusz.
There’s a similar cleanup scheduled every fall with Notre Dame High School, however LICA wanted to utilize this particular event as a way of pinpointing certain areas.
“We wanted to target some of the weeds this time around,” Ritchie said. “Clearing away the weeds is some prep for our riparian restoration.”
Volunteers for the event came out from all corners of the community, including the Town of Bonnyville parks and recreation department, ATCO Electric, Coun. Lorna Storoschuk, and local community members.
Ritchie said, “We want people to care about their environment, help improve it, and make it better... We can enjoy Jessie Lake for years to come, and hopefully improve it so everyone can enjoy it a little bit more than they do now.”
