When Ashley Lima and her co-worker Melissa Greaves show up in their District of Muskoka truck at water access points, well-meaning men often rush over and try to help them put their boat in the water.

The two young women appreciate the gesture, but they  really don’t need assistance. In fact, in their second summer working as water quality monitoring technicians, the pair have ample experience getting their vessel on and off the trailer. After all, they do it every day.

And despite drawbacks like extreme temperatures, wind, bugs, and the occasional kilometre-long portage through the bush with their testing equipment and an aluminum canoe, they love their job.

Lima, who will be entering her fourth year at the University of Guelph in the fall, says she can’t imagine a better way to spend her summer.

A cottager for her first 11 years and resident of Huntsville ever since, Lima says her most vivid warm-weather memories involve being on and in the lakes: boating, waterskiing, swimming and canoeing.

“If I could spend every summer day out on the lake, it would pretty much make my life perfect,” Lima says.

Working as a water quality monitoring technician also allows her to visit parts of the district she wouldn’t otherwise know about, spot wildlife and help protect the lakes she has always loved.

On the other hand, Lima notes that her work has been eye-opening.

“The main part of our job is to monitor and assess the impact that human activity has on the lakes in Muskoka,” she explains. “Every day we see waterfront properties with completely altered landscapes and shorelines. It’s depressing knowing what healthy properties and shorelines should look like and witnessing the destruction occurring every day all across Muskoka.”

Lima finds it frustrating that although there is lots of information available about protecting lakes and shorelines, it’s not being accessed or adopted.

When asked what she wants people to know, Lima replies, “To keep your property healthy is to keep it natural.”

She explains that vegetation is a lake’s main defence against erosion and helps prevent pollutants from entering the water.

Many people mistakenly think cement or stone walls will better protect shorelines from erosion, says Lima, but a lack of vegetation allows contaminants like lawn fertilizers and pesticides to run freely into the lake, upsetting the delicate balance that nature struggles to maintain.

“A waterfront property doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” Lima says. “Every action people take has an effect on the lake and the other systems to which it is connected.”

As for Huntsville’s environmental policies, Lima thinks their underlying intentions and ideas on the right track. But she’s not happy to see the urbanization of waterfront access areas.

“When Avery Beach Park and Hunters Bay Trail opened, a majority of the land and shoreline was left natural,” she points out. “Unfortunately, over the years, vegetation along the shore has been removed, and larger and larger sections along the trail mowed into lawn. This is not a good, healthy way to beautify or make the lake more accessible to people.”

Lima hopes areas of the River Mill Park will be allowed to grow wild. “Natural areas will preserve the environment and maintain the beauty of Huntsville — the reason tourists come in the first place!”

Overall, says Lima, “Huntsville needs to  show its commitment to preserving and protecting the main attraction and greatest asset we have: nature.”

So what’s in store for Lima?

“I’m thinking about teachers’ college,” she says. “I would like to educate children to protect, respect and enjoy the earth in its natural state.”

When her education is complete, she plans to return to the area.

“I would love to spend the rest of my life here,” says Lima. “And I will keep the

environment as a major focus in all the work I do.”