Parks Canada will allow boats on Clear Lake with restrictions

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Parks Canada says it will allow watercraft on Clear Lake, after determining there are no feasible options to eradicate zebra mussels from the lake.

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Parks Canada announced on Tuesday it would allow personal watercraft on Clear Lake in the Riding Mountain National Park this upcoming boating season, after most watercraft were banned from the lake last summer.

“With input and advice from Indigenous advisors, the Province of Manitoba, and leading scientific and international experts, Parks Canada has determined that eradicating zebra mussels from Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park is not feasible,” the statement reads. “Parks Canada is committed to managing the impacts of zebra mussels on the natural environment, and to the vitality of the local tourism economy.”

Parks Canada says it will use a “one boat, one lake prevention program” at Clear Lake.

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The federal government first discovered evidence of zebra mussels in the lake in November of 2023, and put a watercraft ban in last year, as they had hoped to stop the spread and to “eradicate” the invasive species from the lake.

A containment curtain was set up at the Boat Cove area of the lake last year, where the mussels were first discovered, but Parks Canada later said that curtain was damaged and proved unsuccessful at stopping the spread.

Parks Canada says they now have evidence that the mussels have spread beyond the Boat Cove area, with the discovery last fall of the mussels attached to docks and other infrastructure near the east end of the lake.

Despite allowing watercraft back on the lake, the federal government says the mussels continue to pose a real threat to Clear Lake and to the local habitat, and could continue spreading to other bodies of water.

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“Zebra mussels are a real and significant threat to Clear Lake and downstream waterbodies,” Parks Canada said. “These waterbodies flow through five First Nations, are important for agriculture, industry, and recreation, and provide drinking water for tens of thousands of people.”

In the province of Manitoba invasive zebra mussels were first discovered in Lake Winnipeg in the fall of 2013, and have since spread to other bodies of water in Manitoba, including Lake Manitoba, the Nelson River, and most recently Clear Lake.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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