Since its founding in 1894, the Muskoka Lakes Association (MLA) has worked to preserve and enhance the natural beauty and environmental health of Muskoka. Throughout its history, the organization has been a determined environmental advocate, often pursuing issues for decades until meaningful change was achieved.
Among its many environmental accomplishments, the MLA:
- Educated property owners in the 1920s and 1930s on proper septic system construction and maintenance.
- Pressured commercial steamship operators to install onboard septic holding tanks.
- Organized volunteer detergent exchange programs to reduce phosphates entering local lakes.
- Played a leading role in the successful fight against acid rain during the 1980s.
- Established a citizen science-based Water Quality Initiative in 2002 that now collects approximately 700 water samples annually across 53 areas in 17 lakes and rivers.
The First 50 Years (1894–1944)
The MLA was founded with a simple but ambitious goal: “To preserve the healthful sanitation and scenic beauty of the Muskoka Lakes.”
In 1903, it created a Sanitation Committee, the predecessor of today’s Environment Committee. At the time, hotels, resorts, steamships, and sawmills routinely discharged garbage, raw sewage, and industrial waste directly into the lakes. Environmental regulations were virtually nonexistent, making the MLA the leading advocate against pollution in Muskoka.
Commercial logging had already damaged waterways. Floating logs downstream disrupted fish habitat while sawmills released sawdust into rivers and lakes smothering fish spawning areas. The MLA successfully lobbied the government to restrict waste disposal practices, which restored healthy fish populations.
During the steamship era, coal- and wood-fired vessels released ash, oil, and raw sewage into the lakes. Through persistent advocacy, the MLA helped secure requirements for steamships to install wastewater holding tanks.
The organization also educated cottage owners and resorts about proper sewage disposal and septic maintenance, helping reduce shoreline contamination long before modern wastewater regulations existed.
The Second 50 Years (1944–1994)
Following the Second World War, environmental awareness gradually increased, but many practices harmful to lake health remained common. Some cottagers dumped bottles, cans and large appliances into deep water – a practice unthinkable today. Even the Sagamo steamship was dumping garbage overboard until 1954. It was also perfectly acceptable to bathe, wash dogs, and do laundry in the lake.
The MLA expanded its environmental efforts:
- 1966: Launched its first water quality testing program.
- 1969: Partnered with Pollution Probe to support an Ontario Water Resources Commission study that educated cottagers about septic systems and pollution prevention.
- 1971: MLA volunteers initiated a program to replace phosphate-based detergents with environmentally friendly alternatives to reduce algae blooms.
During the 1970s, acid rain became the greatest environmental threat facing central Ontario. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants, industry, and vehicles produced acidic precipitation that damaged forests and lakes. Some Muskoka lakes became so acidic that fish, amphibian, and insect populations plummeted.
In 1981, the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain was formed, with the MLA playing a leadership role. The coalition sought a 50 percent reduction in emissions through public education, research, fundraising, and political advocacy. Prominent advocates helped raise awareness, including Canadian Ambassador to the US Allan Gotlieb, author Margaret Atwood, and Senators Ted Kennedy and David Durenberger.
According to Alan Hutton, past president of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain and a past Commodore of the MLA, “Our members wrote letters, funded research, and kept the pressure on governments throughout the 1980s culminating in the Clean Air Act of 1991, ratified into US and Canadian law eleven years after the coalition had been formed.” Alan tells his story in this video. The acid rain campaign remains one of the MLA’s greatest achievements and demonstrates how a local organization can influence national and international environmental policy.
The Past 32 Years (1994–2026)
In 2002, MLA board members Joe Moher, John Mollard, and John Curran, working with Dr. Neil Hutchinson, established the Water Quality Initiative (WQI), creating one of Ontario’s most comprehensive volunteer lake-monitoring programs.
By 2007, the program expanded to include nearshore sites and smaller lakes where impacts from adjacent land use required closer monitoring. More recently, it has also added sites to test for chloride as an indicator of road salt runoff on Muskoka waterways.
Today, the Water Quality Initiative:
- Engages about 100 volunteers who collect about 700 water samples each year
- Monitors 53 areas within 17 lakes and rivers throughout Muskoka
- Tests for phosphorus, E. coli, and total coliform bacteria while recording water clarity and temperature
- Produces scientific reports through Hutchinson Environmental Sciences which the MLA shares with municipalities, government agencies, and MLA members to support sound environmental policies
According to Deb Martin-Downs, Chair of MLA’s Environment Committee, “Programs like our Water Quality Initiative track changes over time that reflect the impact of policies and individual actions on our waters. Over time, our lakes have shown their ability to recover from past practices, but new threats continue and we must be vigilant to keep our lakes resilient for the future”.
For more than 130 years, the Muskoka Lakes Association has protected the lakes, forests, and shorelines that define Muskoka. Through advocacy, education, scientific research, and community engagement, it continues to safeguard the region’s natural environment for future generations.
Please join the MLA to help us preserve and enhance Muskoka’s natural beauty through ongoing monitoring of water quality and advocating for responsible development.
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