Established in 1968 for the Preservation of Williams Lake
For 255 years migratory fish which live in the ocean and spawn in freshwater have not been able to reach breeding and feeding areas in Williams Lake. The old dam, built of earth, rock, wood and a bit of concrete in the 1700s for industrial use, blocked their regular migratory journey to their freshwater spawning grounds. That is about to change with the addition of a modern fishway-channel feature in Build Nova Scotia’s construction plan for the new dam on Williams Lake
Water testing is expensive despite our sampling being done by experienced and unpaid WLCC volunteers. These samples are critically analyzed to Health Canada standards by a certified local laboratory. Our volunteers then record, track and monitor these results – continuously for the past 25 years! The WLCC board acts on these test results to continue to protect the lake and the HRM community which loves this lake.
A lot of rock breaking and earth excavating has been happening at the site of the new dam on Williams Lake through July
Our routine lake water testing on 5 August, 2026, at the East end of the lake indicates high E-coli count in the test area. The count is above the acceptable healthy and safe swimming limit and therefore the Eastern end of the lake is not considered healthy for swimming.
BuildNS has released an engineering schematic of the new dam at Williams Lake, Halifax.