Lake Ecosystem Grant Projects

The Township offers Lake Ecosystem Grants to support and encourage the preservation, restoration, monitoring and analysis of lake ecosystems within South Frontenac. Not for profit community organizations including lake associations, charitable organizations and unincorporated groups who meet the project guidelines can apply during certain grant windows each year for funds. See Grant Programs for application details.

In 2025, we provided $21,500 in grants towards three different projects for a total of $144,270.98 since the program began in 2021.

• Garter Lake Lane Association (2025): $9,500.00 to assess the current and historical nutrient status and water quality of the lake to determine any legacy issues of major watershed disturbance such as logging and beaver dam breaks. Queen’s University researchers will collect and analyze sediment cores and current water quality of the lake. They hope to learn how past disturbances and climate change are impacting the lake in order to influence mitigation or management measures that can be established to maintain or improve the water quality of the lake. The results will be presented to the Garter Lake Lane Association, and the summary report and full undergraduate thesis report will be made available. The association also intends to make the information available to other lake associations, especially those with lake trout.
• Wolfe Lake Association (2025): $2,000 to create a separate website for fishleadfree.ca (launched their Get the Lead Out program in 2022 with website) to expand their reach and reduce navigation confusion. The website new will include information on the use of lead tackle and its impact, the science, newsletters, and the program’s progress. The grant would help pay for this separation and for three years website services.
• Queen’s University Biological Station (2025): $10,000 to purchase four new high-quality and robust stereo microscopes for the aquatic lab at the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre. This will expand access to microscopes so that community groups and visiting local school groups can engage directly with science by investigating their local freshwater environments, and make meaningful discoveries at Elbow Lake. It will also enhance learning opportunities for students in the Limnology program. Free public events, featuring QUBS aquatic ecology researchers, will be offered in the Spring and Summer of 2026.
• Fourteen Island and Mink Lakes Watershed Association (2024): $10,000 to complete a dam safety assessment for Fourteen Island Lake dam. This study was required as part of the permitting process before structural repairs can be made to the dam. A second grant was awarded in 2023 to help fund the detailed engineering design for the repairs. 
• Inverary Lake Residents Association (2024): $4,153.98 to purchase No Wake signs to promote slow boating and reduced wakes. An extensive shoreline assessment was conducted by Watersheds Canada through the “Love Your Lake” program. 
• Queen’s University Arnott Lab Grant Value: $8,274 to hire two Master’s students in the Arnott Lab at Queen’s University to measure seasonal changes in conductivity in the nearshore and offshore of Verona Lake, Gould Lake and Sydenham Lake. A spike in conductivity may indicate an increase in road salt due to runoff. They also collected Daphnia (water fleas) for life history and toxicity experiments from Loughborough, Hambly, and Verona lakes. These results were used to examine variation in sensitivity to road salt, providing an indication of the scope for evolutionary adaptation in the region. 
• Queen’s University Biological Station Grant Value: $10,473 for a project that sampled and analyzed environmental DNA (eDNA) from 20 waterbodies in South Frontenac. This is a non-invasive method to assess aquatic species diversity. Early detection of aquatic invasive species in lake ecosystems (and upstream or downstream influences), combined with presence data of native species of conservation concern will provide a baseline inventory of these areas, create a new tool for real-time monitoring of local biodiversity, and may inform management and conservation in South Frontenac.  
• Wolfe Lake Association: $6,000 for a public education and awareness campaign for the association’s lead buy back program to help reduce lead fishing tackle in the environment and dangers to aquatic wildlife. Their “Let’s Get the Lead Out” program collected 210 pounds of lead in its first year. The association provided sample bags at community events, annual general meetings, and as promotional draw prizes. Other area lake associations pledged support and helped raise awareness. Awareness signs were installed at several local boat launches. The program received broad exposure through various media outlets.
• Dog and Cranberry lakes Association: $10,000 towards a shoreline assessment of 360 properties by Watersheds Canada through the “Love Your Lake” program. Each property owner received a with respect to the health of the shoreline and recommendations on actions to improve the health of the lake ecosystem.  A State of the Lake Report was completed. An intern worked on a project that engaged community members to become citizen scientists, particularly related to identifying and mapping invasive and endangered species.  The information gathered from this project will directly inform a lake stewardship plan.  
• The Nature Conservancy of Canada: $10,000 to improve wetland habitat at the Milburn Creek Nature Reserve in Battersea. The first component was to reduce the population of invasive phragmites in Milburn Creek through the application of an approved herbicide. NCC connected with neighbours living adjacent to the property to share about this invasive species, how they are managing the property, and address questions or concerns. They hope that by reducing the population at Milburn Creek that this will help reduce the spread of phragmites to downstream lakes including Milburn Bay and Dog Lake. 

For more information on funding windows and criteria, visit https://www.southfrontenac.net/grants/.