SAINT-RAYMOND | Residents of Lac Cantin have donated $236,000 to bring the lake back to life. Following the breakup of Lac Bison in June 2015, Lac Cantin had lost 50% of its water capacity.
“On June 24, 2015, the Lac Bison dike gave way and this caused the flooding of Lac Cantin. The water level rose four feet in the space of an hour,” explain Gaétan Voyer, owner of Lac Cantin and member of the Association des Propriétaires riverains du Lac Cantin, accompanied by Martin Rodrigue, administrator and member of the Association. Subsequently, the Ministry of the Environment requested that the lake be emptied to protect its dam.
The disaster
Before the flood, the reservoir held 25,000 m3 of water. However, the descent of sandy, vegetal sediments from Bison Lake helped fill Cantin Lake. “We’ve lost four to five feet of depth. Last summer, the center of the lake was less than five feet deep, and we want to restore it to its original depth of eight feet,” add Mr. Voyer and Mr. Rodrigue.
Doubling the lake’s capacity
The aim of the project is to double the basin’s capacity from 14,000 m3 to 28,000 m3. To carry out the work, it was first necessary to undertake surveying and obtain authorizations from the Ministry of the Environment. A long process that was carried out by the members of the Association des Propriétaires riverains du Lac Cantin.
The engineering firm Forchemex is supervising the work, while Rochette Excavation is removing the material. At its peak, the operation will involve three crawler excavators and six to eight trucks making 1,700 trips to remove the 14,000 m3 of soil. The work also requires the preparation of the roads needed for machinery traffic on the lake, which has been emptied of its water. In all, the operation is expected to last a month.
Protecting the wetland
Lac Cantin will be excavated over a length of 400 metres, 100 metres of which will remain intact. “As the lake has risen, the sediments that have settled at its mouth have caused the wetland to expand a little further, and the environment has asked us to protect it,” says Martin Rodrigue.
A sector tax
Starting this summer, the 31 local residents will once again be able to enjoy swimming and pedal-boating on the lake. Trout stocking is also on the list of future projects. The work is expected to cost $236,000, and the bill will be paid entirely by the residents of Lac Cantin.
“Residents are assuming all the costs of the work. The City has accommodated us by advancing the funds, which will be reimbursed by a sector tax over a ten-year period,” emphasizes Mr. Rodrigue. In fact, the Ville de Saint-Raymond requested an advance of $3,000 per home before work began. This represents an approximate investment of $90,000. “We haven’t had much help from government bodies,” add Mr. Voyer and Mr. Rodrigue.
After a major effort by local residents in 2015 to clean up the lake and its shores, the completion of this work will be a great achievement. “This can add another fifty to sixty years to the lake’s life,” says Gaétan Voyer.
