For 30 years, Haliburton County residents have been acting as volunteer scientists, taking water samples as part of the Lake Partner Program. Every spring and fall, they collect samples from 600 lakes and more than 900 sites that are then mailed to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks' lab in Dorset where they are analyzed for a number of water quality factors.
But now, that program's future is in question, since the MECP funding agreement that expired in March hasn't been renewed. Local resident Ron Parkinson and his organization Highlands East Lake Properties has launched an email writing campaign to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the MECP and local members of parliament and provincial parliament to reinstate the program for the next five-year period.
The valuable data collected from county lakes is used by a variety of users, including municipalities, planners, scientists and researchers.

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