RE: Township Grant Supports Community-Led Effort to
Track Salt Entering Lake of Bays
( June 4, 2026 – Lake of Bays, ON) The Township of Lake of Bays is supporting a community-led
project to monitor chloride levels in local waterways as part of its Environmental
Projects Grant Program.
Friends of the Muskoka Watershed has been awarded funding through the program’s
Watershed Fund to monitor and assess chloride levels in the Oxtongue and Boyne
Rivers, which flow into Lake of Bays.
“Volunteers are being trained to use chloride test kits to collect data that will support
education, awareness, and stewardship efforts across the community,” said David
Zilkey, Climate Action Strategist, Township of Lake of Bays. “Chloride, a
component of road salt, is especially harmful to aquatic life in Muskoka’s soft-water
lakes.”
While the Township uses a very low-salt sand mix on the roads it maintains, road salt
use varies across the broader network of private lands, municipal and provincial roads
surrounding Lake of Bays. This project will help improve understanding of how chloride
moves through the watershed.
About Friends of the Muskoka Watershed
Friends of the Muskoka Watershed is a Muskoka-based charitable organization focused
on science-based solutions and community action to protect local lands and waters.
This initiative builds on the organization’s SALTYMuskoka program, which promotes
responsible salt use and practical steps residents can take to protect water quality.
About the Environmental Projects Grant Program
The Environmental Projects Grant Program supports grassroots initiatives that protect,
enhance, or restore the environment in Lake of Bays, with a focus on habitat,
biodiversity, and watershed health. In addition to Friends of the Muskoka Watershed,
the Township awarded grants to support projects led by Dr. Kirsten Beck from Nipissing
University, the Land Between charity, and the Lake of Bays Association. Learn more
about this year’s grantees in the disbursement staff report and at
lakeofbays.on.ca/grants