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Safety & Emergency Preparedness
Spring Flooding
As
Otonabee Conservation wrote in their recent e-news, the "snowpack holds the key to the Spring flooding forecast."
Snow measurements help quantify the amount of water available as runoff during the winter or early spring, and are used
to aid in flood forecasting and warning.
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at midday on March 26, 2019
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In Ontario, the accumulation and depletion of snow is manually measured twice a month, from November to May (or until no snow remains) as part of the provincial Snow Survey Program, a collaboration between Conservation Authorities, Ontario Power Generation, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF).
At the time of writing this Elert (March 26), the current posting for the MNRF Southern Region notes:
"The latest snow survey shows a continuing deep snowpack in southeast/ southcentral Ontario ranging from 125% to 450% of normal for this date ...The impact of recent warm temperatures and rainfall have compacted the significant snow pack, reducing its ability to absorb rainfall. Warm temperatures and precipitation are likely to further degrade the snowpack and river ice, and produce runoff and increasing levels and flows."
Stay informed!
The flood map and local message updates are here:
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Trent-Severn Waterway Water Level Management
If your property is located along the Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW), see the water level management update (PDF, 2 pages) recently received by FOCA which covers Haliburton, the Kawarthas, the Lower Trent and Severn River.
And r
efer to this website for regular TSW water level updates:
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FOCA Programs
Lake Partner Program
Every year, hundreds of Lake Stewards across Ontario volunteer their time for water monitoring of the province's inland lakes. FOCA is very pleased to announce that the 2018 sampling results have been analyzed by the scientists, and are now posted for PDF download from our program webpage:
Thank you to everyone at the Dorset Environmental Science Centre, and all the volunteers who contribute their time to this annual citizen science effort!
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Cottage Succession Seminar Series
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Peter spoke to large crowds at the Cottage Life
Main Stage, last weekend
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Plan to join us at an in-person event with estate lawyer
Peter Lillico this summer, talking about what plans your family needs to make now, to keep the cottage in the family for the future. Get
details about all the 2019 FOCA Cottage Succession summer event locations and dates, here:
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FOCA's Gold-level Sponsors
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Sponsors
support our work!
Please, support them.
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FOCA 2019 AGM & Spring Seminar
Association Planning: Getting it Right
Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Boulevard Club in Toronto
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Spring Seminar in early March.
Topics included boating issues, Asian carp prevention, how & why to engage with your municipal Councillors, cottage succession, Association best practices for meetings and annual filings, and other tips.
FOCA members can download the
full summary - including slides and handouts from the presentations - from the event webpage:
NOTE
: you will need to have (or
apply for) your FOCA Member web Login to access the Event Summary.
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FOCA Achievement Award
White Lake Cottagers' Association
Congratulations to the recipients of the most recent FOCA Achievement Award, announced at the FOCA AGM & Spring Seminar earlier this month.
The
White Lake Cottagers' Association
is a small Frontenac-area group with lots of enthusiasm. Read more, and link to a CBC radio interview with the recipients, here:
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Roads Survey
Collecting Road Knowledge
On March 14th, 2019 FOCA sent out a survey invitation to our member groups that manage or involve rural roads. We are updating FOCA's benchmark information about road associations across Ontario, including association structure, annual fees and expenses, physical characteristics of the roads, and the top issues currently occupying road associations.
If you did not receive the survey invitation, but would like to participate, please
contact us
as soon as possible. The
survey continues until April 15th, and summarized results will be made available to FOCA member Associations, and at a roads meeting tentatively planned for June 2019.
TIP: Ensure you have confirmed your consent to receive FOCA Elerts, in order to be notified of this meeting, and to receive ongoing e-updates!
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Policy & Political Updates
New Vessel Abandonment Act
In late February 2019,
Canadian Parliament passed a new act: the
Wrecked, Abandoned, or Hazardous Vessels Act (C-64).
Details are here. The Act makes it illegal to abandon a vessel or allow it to become a wreck.
Read more on the subject, from our friends at Cottage Life, here:
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Environmental Corner
Great Lakes Water Level Forecasting
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environment and Climate Change Canada have been coordinating Great Lakes water level forecasts for decades. Consult the six-month forecasting for each of the Great Lakes, that is made available through the Canadian Hydrographic Service's Monthly Water Levels Bulletin.
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Great Lakes Warming
A recent report suggests the Great Lakes region is warming faster than the rest of the U.S. Additionally, annual precipitation was more than twice as high in the Great Lakes region compared to the rest of the country, over the study period (1901-2015).
"This report paints a stark picture of changes in store ... as a result of our changing climate," notes University of Illinois scientist Don Weubbles.
Read the CBC News story
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Upcoming Events
various dates and locations: April 4 - Calabogie.
April 8 - Black River-Matheson.
April 10 - Thorndale.
April 11 - Orono.
June 7 - Haliburton.
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Safe Quiet Lakes' Stakeholder Meeting
Friday, April 12, 2019 - Port Carling. FOCA will be participating in the annual meeting of our partner organization,
Safe Quiet Lakes which brings together leaders in the boating industry, cottage associations and government to share ideas, learn from each other, and develop solutions. Light lunch from 12:30pm; presentations and discussions from 1:30 to 4:30pm. Please register as soon as possible
by clicking here.
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FOCA's Silver-level Sponsors
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Waterfront Living
Porter to offer flights to Muskoka this summer
Porter Airlines has announced they will be flying to the Muskoka Airport from Billy Bishop Airport (Toronto Island) beginning June 27th, 2019. Service will end on September 3rd. They will operate 2 flights on Thursday afternoons and 2 flights on Monday mornings (shifting to Tuesday for long weekends). Flights will take around 20 minutes and round trip prices are reported to be under $200. For the news and a link to Porter, see:
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A Cautionary Tale:
"The couple filed an insurance claim and an engineering company was brought in to assess the damage. It applied to the Township of Scugog for a permit to do repairs, but was denied because roughly two-thirds of the house was built without proper permits."
For other important risk-management tips, download this info sheet from FOCA and our partners at Cade Associates:
(PDF, 2 pages)
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Recent Events
March 6, 2019 - Sarnia.
FOCA participated with our partners in a public information session about Asian carp prevention, and the threats these invasive species pose to the Great Lakes.
For more on the subject, visit:
https://foca.on.ca/asian-carp/
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March 21-24, 2019 - Toronto.
FOCA had a great time at the Spring Cottage Life Show last weekend!
T
erry Rees
spoke on the main stage about the challenges and opportunities of moving your business to the cottage community. At the FOCA booth, our staff and Board volunteers fielded hundreds of questions from visitors.
Our draw for a prize pack of emergency and safety goods worth $300 was won by:
Dawn Sendzik of Parry Sound.
Congratulations!
A special 'Thank you' to our partners at
Cade Associates Insurance Brokers
who contributed to the amazing prize pack, provided key fobs to hundreds of visitors, and answered lots of questions about
Association liability insurance
, and the
CottageFirst
group insurance program.
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OOWA Annual Conference
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Julie (centre) |
March 18-19 - Huntsville.
FOCA's Terry Rees participated in the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association (OOWA) annual gathering of experts on septic technology & services, and regulators. At the event,
Julie Ingram
of Peterborough Public Health received the OOWA Volunteer of the Year Award, in part due to her work with FOCA last year to create an
introductory video
about septic systems, which has had thousands of online viewings. Congratulations Julie!
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FOCA's Bronze-level Sponsors
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Association Tools
Planning your Association AGM or Newsletter?
FOCA can help with that.
Have a 5 or 10 minute spot on your meeting agenda? Show one of FOCA's videos! Stream them on YouTube if you've got internet access, or contact us for tips on downloading to a laptop:
Got some extra space in your Newsletter? Please include this little FOCA ad (click the image at the side to download a PDF - reproduce at 4" width, maximum) to remind your members about our work and all the benefits they receive, as
FOCA members!
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FOCA is the Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Associations,
the voice of the waterfront for over 55 years
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