Workers remove an old dike at the outlet of Lac Waber in an effort to return it to its original level.
Photo: Yan Lassalle
MICHEL PLANTE WAS JUBILANT when I arrived at Lac Waber earlier in the day. The last remaining culvert of an old dike had
been removed and the lake was emptying like water draining from a sink. Plante, coordinator of the park’s aquatic ecosystems
restoration program, worried that the lake would empty rapidly and uncontrollably, but the flow was steady. Downstream, the
splendid Waber Falls were more swollen than they’d ever been. “You’d think it’s the spring melt!” said van Dijk.
| Van Dijk takes me to a few recently restored lakes. ‘In this spot alone,’ he says, ‘we removed 13,000 logs, one by one.’ |
Why on Earth would anyone want to lower the lake? Primarily to return to its original level, before the dike was built for the
log drive. And to clear up its shores of accumulated logs and debris and prevent further shoreline erosion. “In years to come,
the banks will be covered in wetlands, which are natural water filters and areas of rich biodiversity,” explains Plante.
The spawning grounds of the brook trout (or speckled trout) at Lac Waber are found in deeper waters, so dropping the level
of the lake will not affect them. Actually, make that two lakes, because lowering Lac Waber has created a smaller adjoining lake,
which remains unnamed. With some 40 lakes upstream flowing continuously into these two bodies of water, neither will dry
up anytime soon.
Last November, three months after my visit, the level of Lac Waber had stabilized after dropping 80 centimetres and
opening up stretches of shoreline up to eight metres wide, depending on the incline. Another “From Log to Canoe” endeavour
had succeeded.
WITH A BUDGET OF $2.6 MILLION, the program aims to restore the ecosystems of a dozen lakes altered by humans. “It’s
the first time we’ve undertaken an aquatic-habitat restoration project of this scope in a national park,” says van Dijk. In addition
to restoring certain lake water levels, the project will also retrieve thousands of sunken logs from the log drive years.
Van Dijk takes me to a few recently restored lakes: Lac aux Chevaux, which we reach after some portaging, then Lac Isaïe,
whose shores are still littered with dead trees and logs. “In this spot alone,” he says, “we removed 13,000 logs, one by one.”
Some of the reclaimed wood (eastern hemlock and hardwoods mainly) has been used to build or renovate park buildings.
Students have transformed stumps into works of art, some of which are exhibited at one of the visitor centres.
Another objective of the restoration program is to re-establish communities of indigenous fish in some lakes. In 2005 and
2006, brook trout fry raised at a fish farm were reintroduced in Lac Tessier, whose trout population had been decimated by
people fishing with dynamite in the 1920s. Today, spawning and reproduction occur naturally in the lake. But at Lac Bouchard,
where van Dijk takes me next, there is a different set of issues.
Here, the waters were invaded by species introduced by humans, which upset the lake’s ecological balance. Rotenone,
a plant-derived toxin that kills only animals with gills, was used to destroy the non-native species, including smallmouth bass
and white suckers. “It’s an efficient shock treatment that leaves
no toxic trace,” says van Dijk.
Following the rotenone treatment, brook trout that had been previously removed from the lake and kept at a fish farm were
reintroduced, as well as 10,000 fry. Monitoring last September revealed that the experiment was successful: brook trout had
reclaimed their territory. “What’s more,” says Plante, “they colonized unforeseen areas, such as peripheral rivers and streams.”
The “From Log to Canoe” program has officially ended, though there are still a few loose ends to tie up. Plante says
his only regret is that he didn’t have the opportunity to work on Lac Français, for all sorts of logistical reasons. It’s the only lake
in the park where Arctic char live, an indigenous species that may soon be listed as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec.
With 90 percent of the program’s objectives attained, Plante recently received a $1.6 million grant from Parks Canada to continue
restoring aquatic ecosystems in La Mauricie. An additional $1.6 million has been allocated to rehabilitating forest habitats,
including white pine stands, which have not yet fully recovered from more than a century of logging.
Now that I have heard the wind’s song through their delicate needles, I am more convinced than ever of the importance of
protecting these pines. Not to mention the lakes, fauna, flora and, above all, the park’s greatest feature: its powerful serenity.
Freelance travel writer Gary Lawrence and photographer Yan Lassalle are both based in Montréal.
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