9 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2022 Georgian Bay has lost a wonderful friend with the passing of Roy Schatz on September 30. Nothing brought Roy more joy than being together with family, particularly at the cottage in Pointe au Baril. He fought as an advocate and protector of Georgian Bay, and the work he started continues today. Roy served as president of the Pointe au Baril Islanders’ Association in the 1970s, and over the next 50 years we all benefitted from his wisdom and tireless energy helping to protect and preserve our beloved Georgian Bay. Roy was named GBA’s sixth Honourary Life Member for his 10+ years of outstanding service, including serving as secretary, chair of GBA’s Township of the Archipelago liaison committee, and two years as president. Roy also founded and then led the GBA Foundation (now Georgian Bay Forever), a charity dedicated to scientific research and public education on Georgian Bay’s aquatic ecosystem. More recently he served as vice chair of Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation. Roy’s strong leadership and excellent communication skills, always laced with humour and a sharp wit, helped all these organizations flourish. A legacy we should honour and never forget. ≥ Information on the impact of climate change, such as increased storm severity, higher water levels, warmer winters, and warmer summers, which can adversely affect potable water quality, and some techniques to address this ≥ Full rundown of what insurance is available and what is not available (or is very expensive), including an overview of the challenges faced by the insurance industry, with climate change causing more extreme weather and everincreasing losses from fires, floods, and other unexpected events ≥Why it is important to discuss coverage options and market conditions with your insurance broker given the rapidly changing state of insurance for home floods, overland floods, and storm surges ≥ Details of what factors to consider to reduce risk, including a range of short-term, low-cost actions and longer-term, more complex upgrades to your property ≥Why it is important for individuals, shoreline businesses, and municipalities to adopt a long-term planning strategy when considering investments to address increased water levels variability, rather than short-term reactions to, for instance, extreme high water and flooding The majority of questions asked were about what we can expect for water levels going forward. The answer is that there is, and will continue to be, a high degree of uncertainty. There are no discernible cycles relevant to predicting future levels and, even when the long-awaited ECCC study referred to above is released this year, all their forecasts will be probability based and will therefore not provide any high degree of certainty on year-to-year future levels. Notable ideas included government funding to replace/ upgrade docks, for instance those with unencapsulated dock foam, or for marinas who need to transition from cribs to floating docks. It was clear from many of the questions asked that property owners are really struggling to determine what they can do about shoreline erosion/stability, flooding, access, docks, and the pros and cons of shoreline hardening. A lot of information was provided to address this range of important questions and there will be more to come when we post the full Q&A from the three webinars. Further information on the series, including synopses, recordings, and slides can be found here: georgianbay.ca/h20-2021/. Water levels in Georgian Bay are expected to continue to be a major priority for GBA moving forward, and it is clear that working together with GBF will continue to be valuable and productive in addressing your concerns and questions. In Memory of Roy Schatz 1931-2021 OBITUARY By Rupert Kindersley, Executive Director Front: Roy Schatz and his wife Dianna Michener Schatz; Back, from left to right: Roy’s children, Laura, Joan, and Cameron
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