C h a p t e r 3

Rising Temperatures,
Falling Water?

O

N TA R I O ’ S WA S A G A B E A C H

is one of the finest swimming

destinations in all of North America. Nestled into the south-

east corner of Lake Huron’s expansive Georgian Bay, Wasaga boasts

nine miles of white sand that slants out into Lake Huron’s azure wa-

ters at such a gradual slope that a hundred yards from shore the

water barely reaches a swimmer’s waistline. A provincial park since

1962, Wasaga is just eighty miles from cosmopolitan Toronto,

which helps explain why it is one of the most popular day-use

tourist destinations in Canada. They come for the fun, and the sun,

and to frolic in one of the most bountiful freshwater ecosystems on

earth. “On a busy weekend we can have 60,000 to 120,000 people,”

says park superintendent Mark Shoreman. “We claim it’s the

world’s longest freshwater beach.”

But Wasaga is also an ideal place to witness the remarkable nat-

ural fluctuations that occur in Great Lakes water levels. Thanks to

the faint tilt in the sand at Wasaga Beach, when Lake Huron’s

water level falls by one vertical foot, it can actually change the

Wasaga Beach waterline by dozens of feet. In 1986, during historic

high water levels on the Great Lakes, Wasaga’s visitors only needed

to amble a few yards from the tree line to reach the water’s edge.

But in 2000, when water levels approached historic lows, beachgo-

ers were forced to walk 150 yards to the water, often dodging the

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