Bassin versant du Lac Heney Watershed

Editor’s look at the New Year

By Christine Ouellet

The Grinch tried to rob us of our beloved white Christmas bringing rain and above-normal temperatures that melted all the icicles in the province. It is always a gamble, but this year, the Grinch beat the Holidays flat out.

Luckily, all was not lost and by December 31st the weather pattern had reversed its course, and below 0 C temperatures were back. Skiers headed for the mountain.

But once the holiday period is over how do you boost your spirit above the winter blues? Outdoor activities of all sorts like downhill, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, skating, ice fishing and reading a good book by the fireplace, help a lot. There’s no need to go down south to be happy, just go play outside.

Some activities encourage contemplation with minimal disruption of the forest and the local fauna.

In this third issue, we talk about ice. You will find information about membership, available merchandise, an update on the scientific research, advice from the Red Cross on how to keep safe on the ice, the amazing story of the salvage of the Lake Heney truck, and an interview with Mr. Sylvain Audet who retrieves vehicles which have sunk to the bottom of the lake, and finally ice fishing.

Our wish to you for the New Year: go play outside and do your favorite activities. It will put a smile on your face and boost your energy level. Enjoy our beautiful natural setting and enjoy reading this winter’s issue.

Thank you to all the collaborators, without whom the Newsletter would not be possible: Chantal & Chantal, Diane, Karen, Liz, Michael, Rees, Rock, Sean, Ted, Tom and Tony from the Board, and Olivier, Jerry and Margie.

A message from the President

by Roger Larson

Dear members and future members,

Being a member of the Bassin Versant du Lac Heney Watershed association contributes to the well-being of our small community. Your membership supports your volunteer board’s efforts to monitor the quality of our lakes and advocate for policies with municipalities supporting responsible use, protection, and enjoyment of the lakes on behalf of the watershed property owners.

The things you like to do on the lake, whether it is hiking, fishing, swimming or just sitting on your dock, all depend on the quality of the water in the watershed lakes and the environment.

The value of your property is directly tied to the quality of the lakes. Joining the Association as a member helps make our work more effective. Your membership supports your volunteer board’s efforts to monitor the quality of our lakes and advocate for policies supporting responsible use, protection, and enjoyment on behalf of the watershed property owners. With more members, we are better positioned to advocate for members’ interests. Membership also entitles you to vote and have your say (and some food and drink) at the Association’s Annual Meeting each summer.

As a member, you also receive our Newsletter online three times a year. In each issue, we bring you the latest news, amazing, sometimes unbelievable, stories like the one about the rescue of a truck that went through the ice, thoughtful reflections, and analyses of important environmental issues shaping our world. We do our best to present you with interesting cottage reading.

As in past years, the membership fee is $35. If you are a member, please renew your membership for 2023-24. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining. Memberships can be renewed, and new members can join through this portal on the Association website at https://bvlacheney.ca/membership-registration/ – if you need help navigating, please click the ‘contact’ tab on the website and our membership Chair Tony or our Treasurer Ted will get back to you.

We need you. Our paid membership is down this year, if you have not paid your fees for 2023, please pay them now. The next renewal date is set for April 1st, 2024.

NEW: Pay by interac e-transfer – finance@bvlacheney.ca

If you are interested in the work of the Association or have concerns or ideas that you want to communicate to the board, please get in touch with any director or send a note through the contact
link on the Association website. We want to hear from you.

BVLH Merchandise for sale at Beggar’s Bench

Science Committee update on Water Monitoring

By Tom McKenna

In addition to contracting Kilgour Associates to provide water monitoring expertise, the association participates in the Quebec government Réseau de surveillance volontaire des lacs (RSVL). As part of this program, the science committee takes water samples three time during the summer and bi-monthly water transparency measurements from May through October. The preliminary results from last summer’s water sample measurements from the RSVL Program are provided below.

These results are similar to 2022 results as reported by Kilgour. The full report from Kilgour Associates will be completed next month and reported to the association after a comprehensive review.

To summarize, Heney Lake total phosphorus has stabilized at 9 ug/L. Transparency has improved from 4m in 2021 to 5m in 2023. Lac Desormeaux total phosphorus levels continue to fluctuate and averaged 13.3ug/L in 2023. Transparency continues to be low but improved to 2.5m in 2023. The low transparency is primarily due to the high dissolved organic carbon matter. Organic matter is produced primarily by wetlands and terrestrial plants that enters lakes via streams. Other sources include poor septic systems as well as animal and waterfowl feces. Note: Lac Desormeaux has significant wetlands that drain into the northwest corner of the lake.

Ice Safety – Red Cross tips

By Liz Stirling

Ice Factors

Many factors affect ice thickness including type of water, location, the time of year and other environmental factors such as:

• Water depth and size of body of water.
• Currents, tides and other moving water.
• Chemicals including salt.
• Fluctuations in water levels.
• Logs, rocks and docks absorbing heat from the sun.
• Changing air temperature.
• Shock waves from vehicles traveling on the ice.

Ice Colour

• The colour of ice may be an indication of its strength.
• Clear blue ice is strongest.
• White opaque or snow ice is half as strong as blue ice. Opaque ice is formed by wet snow freezing on the ice.
• Grey ice is unsafe. The grayness indicates the presence of water.

Remember – thickness is only one consideration while enjoying activities on ice, and the minimum thicknesses are guidelines only. Local conditions and the type of water body will affect the ice strength. Check with local authorities for information on local ice conditions before heading out on the ice. Obey posted signs indicating when and where ice surface is acceptable for activities. Avoid walking on ice at night.

Driving on ice

• be careful when driving snowmobiles or vehicles over frozen lakes or rivers.
• snowmobiles need at least 20 centimetres (8 inches) of clear blue ice.
• light vehicles need 30 centimetres (12 inches) or more.
• double the thickness if the ice is white or opaque.
• heavy snow on a frozen lake or river slows down the freezing process.

If you get into trouble on ice and you’re by yourself:

• Call for help.
• Try to relax and catch your breath. Turn yourself toward shore so you are looking at where you entered onto the ice. The ice is more stable close to shore.
• Reach forward onto the broken ice without pushing down. Kick your legs to try to get your body into a horizonal position.
• Continue kicking your legs, and crawl onto the ice.
• When you are back on the ice, crawl on your stomach or roll away from the open area with your arms and legs spread out as far as possible to evenly distribute your body weight. Do not stand up! Look for shore and make sure you are crawling in the right direction.

When You Are with others On Ice

• Rescuing another person from ice can be dangerous. The safest way to perform a rescue is from shore.
• Call for help. Consider whether you can quickly get help from trained professionals (police, fire fighters or ambulance) or bystanders.
• Check if you can reach the person using a rope or throw line, a long pole or branch from shore – if
  so, lie down and extend the pole to the person.
• If you go onto ice, wear a PFD and carry a long pole or branch to test the ice in front of you. Bring something to reach or throw to the person (e.g. pole, weighted rope, line or tree branch).
• When near the break, lie down to distribute your weight and slowly crawl toward the hole.
• Remaining low, extend or throw your emergency rescue device (pole, rope, line or branch) to the
  person.
• Have the person kick while you pull them out. · Move the person to a safe position on shore or
  where you are sure the ice is thick. Signal for help.

Meet Sylvain Audet who salvages vehicles from the bottom of lakes and rivers.

By Christine Ouellet

Photos by Sylvain Audet

One day in February last year, a couple of fishing buddies ventured onto Lake Heney with their truck. The ice appeared solid on the shore, so they drove 3100 feet (945 M) onto the lake and parked.

They unloaded their fishing equipment about a hundred feet away and got ready to fish. Then the unbelievable happened: the truck started sinking through the ice. It landed on the bottom of the lake, some 71 feet down.

Sylvain Audet, owner of Renflouement de Vehicules, an expert in rescuing people in trouble, was called to the rescue to retrieve the truck. His mandate is to pull the vehicle out of the water and bring it to shore, and from there the towing company takes charge.

Sylvain Audet started the business in 1990 and he is in his 34th year of operation. He had very little when he started, learning as he went along by trial-and-error. He said that his equipment went through the ice and he got wet a few times. He learned from it.

He developed his technique in collaboration with Jean Paul Corbeil. He came up with his own work method and standards to retrieve snowmobiles, trucks, VTTs that venture onto thin ice. Amongst other things, he designed the grappling hook and the steel triangle model. Before he designed it, he said he was using a wooden structure. It took him some time to find the proper height, weight and bearing level to pull the vehicle safely out of the water.

Throughout the years he has learned how to work with the ice, to identify the best, safest location to install his equipment. The preparation starts before leaving home: he checks the structure/shape/composition of the lake and identifies the streams and rivers, that go in and out of the lake, as well as its depth.

Once on site, he conducts an “Ice Test” on different areas, to assess the type of ice and its thickness before bringing his equipment and deciding where he will set up. Hence, he knows what to expect and has no nasty surprises.

His team always includes two or three divers who are equipped to dive in icy waters. He always wears a float suit. If other people are involved and are not properly equipped, his trailer is full of safety equipment that can accommodate everybody in the worst conditions. He doesn’t stop improving and is always looking for the latest innovations. His mobile equipment consists of an impressive amphibious truck to retrieve vehicles that are over 3000 feet (914.4 M) away, some VTT’s, 4×4’s etc.

He has a camera system that he sends down to the bottom to scan the area and show how he can grab the vehicle. For this, he designed a special grappling hook. In the case of the Lake Heney truck, it was resting upside down on its roof 71 feet down, so the bottom of the vehicle was free. He dragged the grappling hook along the vehicle, and it made contact with the rear axel and he started to pull it up. He pulled the vehicle out of the water, sliding it slowly onto the triangle while lowering the triangle onto the surface. Then he dragged it to shore.

Each situation is unique and requires specialized expertise and technique which is the result of years of trial and error. The problem is that he covers the whole province, if someone goes through the ice, in his snowmobile or truck, he would like people to leave something like a branch or a marker to indicate the location of the hole. He understands that people are in a state of shock and possibly in hypothermia, but it is important to leave something that will help him locate the hole.

He says: “Because by the time I arrive on site, the hole may have closed back up, it may have snowed, and it may be very difficult to locate the precise spot where it sank. When people tell me “It is about there”, it may take me a week to find the exact location. I try to sensitize people to the importance of putting a branch or a marker, not necessarily in the hole, because it could be too dangerous, but something to tell me that for example, it is 30 ft (9.1 M) feet away from the hole.”

He said: “I specialize in situations where tow trucks can’t go. Last year, out of the nine jobs I did, in four of these, the tow truck intervened but they were unable to retrieve the vehicle. Other challenges I face are very high-risk situations, for example, a river with strong current that is not completely frozen or an area where the ice is not even. For these, it is not the same technique as a moderate risk on a lake with a nice thick blue ice.”

The Surete du Quebec and fire departments provide his name to customers, but he works mostly with the Environment Department. When an environmental issue arises from a vehicle loaded with fuel, diesel, or other toxic substances, you can’t leave that vehicle at the bottom of the lake or in a ditch. He recalls an abandoned vehicle on the Ottawa River at Masson last winter, where he was called by the Environment Department to retrieve it. It had been stuck in the ice for months.

He says: “The Ice Test is very important, and everybody should do it. The problem is that people who don’t know the lake don’t realize that a few feet away the ice might be thinner and not support their weight. The best color is black ice. White ice is the worst, it is a mixture of snow, ice, slush is the worst, it has no bearing. You can have 2ft of white ice, but 6 inches of blue ice is safer. The color of the ice tells me a lot. Also, over the years, the ice pattern is the same on lakes. The mouth of the lake and exit of rivers and streams have more current and the ice always remain more fragile, they are areas to be avoided. But people don’t know and don’t inquire before venturing and they get caught.”

Watch the video of the Lake Heney operation at:

https://www.facebook.com/renflouement.vehicule.3/videos/666208218613989

Solutionurgencedeversement@gmail.com

Ice fishing on Lake Heney and Ste Marie

By Christine Ouellet

Imagine any picture you want: Hanging out with your friends inside a rented portable cabin sitting in a spontaneously created ice village with roads and friendly neighbors. Half a dozen 6” holes have already been bored through the ice and ready for your fishing line.

Or on lake Heney or the other lakes in the watershed, in a nice modern very cozy pink tent, planted there all by itself on a frozen lake with no one around, where you hear nothing but the murmur of logs in the portable wood stove that will keep you warm.

Or on the same two lakes, sitting on a stool, looking at the lake which opens onto a big white area, hearing nothing but the wind whirling through the tall balsam and pine trees. Without your cell phone because there is no connection and concentrating on your line dangling into a meticulously drilled hole. And with nothing to keep you warm other than a big thermos of hot beverage. Pure happiness…

There are multiple options to practice ice fishing but all of them are a lot of fun. With the proper fishing license in your pocket, it is possible to practice ice fishing in a peaceful environment on Lake Heney.

Contrary to popular belief, many species of fish stay very active during the cold season. A lot of fish species can be caught during ice fishing season: walleye, pike, largemouth bass, redfish, and halibut. But fishing lake trout in winter is not allowed in Quebec and you will be subject to a heavy fine. Game wardens make regular trips to Lake Heney and several people have been fined for various infractions.

There are a few rules, based on common sense, such as: having your fishing permit with you, dressing warm, bringing hot drinks and food. Make sure you obey the rules and regulations of the body of water you’re fishing on.

Being safety conscious is your most important responsibility. Safety first: test the ice thickness regularly with a spud bar or auger as you move farther out. Remember: ice does not freeze at a uniform thickness. Ice near the shore will be thicker than far out.

Be mindful that the ice that forms overflowing water, springs, pressure cracks, old ice holes, or around the mouths of rivers and streams can be weaker than surrounding ice. Blue ice is the strongest, and white or opaque ice is much weaker. Stay away from ice that looks honeycombed which is common during thaws or in the spring.

A word of warning about making fires on the ice. It is not advisable, even if you count on it to keep you warm. Ashes will litter the surface of the lake and will go down when the ice melts, increasing the phosphorus levels. If you insist on making a fire, bring a fire pot container to make your fire in and bring you ashes back with you when you leave. Better is to use a propane heater.

https://www.pecherpascomplique.com/wp-content/uploads/Affiche-peche-blancheVersionWeb.pdf

Hoar Frost

Hoar frost derives from the old English word “hoary,” meaning getting on in age. With this thought in mind, many trees, especially evergreens did present a “hair-like” appearance resembling white, feathery beards. Unfortunately, warmer weather and rising winds cause the trees, powerlines, and other objects to lose their wintry finery by mid-afternoon.

Rime Ice

DTN meteorologists point out that soft rime is a bit more delicate. On closer inspection you will notice individual crystal spikes. This usually happens when winds are calmer during a freezing fog. In the case of the hard rime ice, the crystals typically build up on the windward side of objects, building a somewhat spongy, porous layer of heavy ice in high winds. When supercooled droplets from fog freeze and attach onto an exposed surface, you get rime ice. All objects impacted need to be at 0 Celsius or below causing the liquid to freeze instantly.