Specific Conductivity values for surface water and deep-near-the-bottom water at Sandy Lake 1971 to 2024. In the lower figure the 2023 data are excluded and the avergages betweeb surface and deep samples are plotted,
In my DRAFT Report On the State of Sandy Lake, the Historical Trends and its Future Trajectory (Feb 23, 2021) I commented under 4.3 Relevance of information gathered or made available after 2014, 4: Road Salts (in summary):
Rising levels of salt in Sandy Lake are highly concerning. Currently, levels are below the the CCME Guideline for long term exposure (120 mg/L chloride) which is also the WQO for chloride cited by AECOM (2014) for Sandy Lake. There is some salt stratification and it appears to be intensifying with time. At some point salt stratification could impair normal spring turnover if it is not already doing so in some years.
Observations subsequent to that date for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, plotted in the figures at top right, suggest a levelling off of conductivity values after 2017 and even a significant decline associated with the extreme precipitation in 2023.
HRM permanently ends ice thickness testing program By Mark Hodgins Posted Jan 17, 2024 11:42:27 AM. Halifax Regional Municipality employees will no longer test ice on lakes and ponds amid warming winters
Phenological shifts in lake stratification under climate change
Long-term evaluation of the impact of urbanization on chloride levels in lakes in a temperate region
Scott et al., 2019. J. Environ. Manag.
Assessing and predicting Lake Chloride Concentrations in the Lake-Rich Urbanizing Halifax Region, Canada
Tessa Bermarija et al., 2023. in Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Synoptic snapshots: monitoring lake water quality over 4 decades in an urbanizing region
C. Doucet et al., 2023. In Lake Reservoir Management.
Climate change amplifies the risk of potentially toxigenic cyanobacteria
Our findings indicate that lakes subject to greater human influence exhibited an earlier onset of cyanobacterial biomass by 40 years compared to less-impacted lakes, with land-use change emerging as the dominant predictor…Moreover, microcystin-producing potential increased in both high- and low-impact lakes around the 1980s, with climate warming being the primary driver