My Watermark is Hurricane Lake, also known as Lake Placid, in Dysart et al., Ontario, just northwest of Haliburton.

This is a small, private lake that is isolated from other bodies of water and only accessible through long roads that stretch off of the highway. This lake is home to a small number of cottages, as well as two summer camps: Camp Towhee and Camp White Pine. Throughout the summers, it is used for swimming, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding and many more activities, with many motorized and non-motorized boats on the water all summer long, and well into the fall and spring.

I have spent the last nine summers of my life at Hurricane Lake as a camper and staff member at Camp White Pine. This is the lake where I learned to swim, waterski, wakeboard, barefoot, sail, canoe, kayak and much more. I have been in and around it countless times over the years, and some of my favourite memories of my childhood revolve around the lake. It is always a great place to cool off on a hot summer day, and some of the camp’s best activities are in the water. The lake has awesome, clean water and supports a number of fish and turtle species, as well as providing water to our entire camp. As a staff member for the youngest kids in the camp, I think that it is important to make sure that our lake remains as pristine as it is now because I want them to have the chance to create the same camp memories that I’ve had the opportunity to create at the lake.

Hurricane Lake is a place where so many amazing memories are made every year, but we treat it very differently. Many chemicals, such as climbazole, which is contained in soaps, shampoos, toothpaste and sunscreens are added to the water every day at camp. This chemical is known to be detrimental to algae, killing them, and significantly stagnating growth in animals and plants. All of the water used at White Pine goes back into the lake through a filtering system, but not all of the chemicals are filtered out. More than this, a significant amount of garbage ends up in the lake each summer, and this garbage sinks to the bottom of the lake, where it accumulates and damages ecosystems, disrupting the lake’s floor and releasing chemicals. Finally, motorboats that drive on the lake’s surface every day can release oil into the water (accidental discharges, mistakes in filling the tank) and also provide serious emissions, meaning that they are contributing to climate change, which is obviously detrimental to this lake, as it is to all bodies of water. It is important that these behaviours are limited as well, so that future generations are able to appreciate camp in all of its beauty.