On Friday, July 24th, a visitor on the lake called the Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks (MECP) with concerns related to blue-green algae and the Ministry sampled the water at a location in Falkenburg Bay. The Brandy Lake Association was in contact with MECP on Monday, July 27th, and they confirmed that blue green algae was identified, and that they would contact the BLA as soon as the results were available.  They emailed the BLA on July 29th, that they had identified the blue-green algae Woronichinia.  This is a different genus than was detected in September of 2019. The...

President’s Message Much has changed since we sent out our Winter Newsletter; we are now truly living in challenging times.    However, your Brandy Lake Association (BLA) Exec has been busy determining how we can best move forward considering the new realities of the pandemic.  We held our first BLA Exec Meeting of the year by videoconference, a format that is undoubtedly a first for the BLA.  We look forward to the start of the traditional cottage season and know that all of you do as well.  The Mayors of Muskoka jointly wrote a letter with information of interest...

Since there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the boat launches in Muskoka, the BLA Exec reached out to the Township of Muskoka Lakes and have learned that at this time there are no boating restrictions or public boat ramp closures in place within the Township of Muskoka Lakes.  Users of any public facilities are reminded to practice physical distancing. The provincial announcement of April 3, 2020, which further restricted the definition of essential businesses, includes limits on the operation of marinas such that services can only be provided to enable individuals to...

Hello I pray that you, your family and friends remain healthy and continue adherence to the Federal, Provincial and Ontario Ministry of Health Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) guidelines and recommendations. Late this afternoon, Mayor Phil Harding released an excellent Covid-19 Muskoka update.  For your convenience, I have provided a link to this update, https://www.muskokalakes.ca/en/residents/covid-19-novel-coronavirus.aspx#Mayors-Updates If you have not done so already, I encourage you to look at the Township of Muskoka Lakes web site that contains information on the Covid-19 virus...

Muskoka Watershed Advisory Group On behalf of the Brandy Lake Association, we would like to thank you for the listening session you hosted January 23 in Port Carling. Three members of our executive attended the session with other residents also present. Your mandate is daunting as the issues facing us in our efforts to protect, preserve and manage our extensive watershed are multifaceted and cross many jurisdictions. We submit the following remarks to achieve positive outcomes for our watershed and, of course, for Brandy Lake. Our recommendations are bolded in the text of the document. We...