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After three young people drowned in Mahogany Lake in less than a year, the homeowners association is stepping up safety measures, including introducing a mandatory water safety course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But some residents of the southeast Calgary community worry more needs to be done to prevent another tragedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two young men drowned<\/a> in Mahogany Lake last August. Earlier this month, a 12-year-old boy drowned after jumping from a dock into the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Mahogany Homeowners Association held its annual general meeting Monday, where the board discussed its response to the drownings.\u00a0<\/p>\n As of July, new residents signing up for lake access will be required to take a free water safety course. Existing members will have until July of next year to complete the course and submit their certificate to the association if they want to use the lake. The course is provided by the Lifesaving Society.<\/p>\n \u201cOur life-saving Water Smart Advocate Course is your basic know-how course for all things kind of rudimentary water safety,\u201d said Madison Lalonde, interim managing director for the society\u2019s Alberta and Northwest Territories branch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDrowning happens in seconds, and often it happens in silence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At 25 hectares, Mahogany Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the city. More than 180,000 people came through the gates last year, according to the homeowners association<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lake plunges as deep as nine metres.\u00a0<\/p>\n Resident Melanie Jardine says the water is murky and very cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve swam in it and, like, it shocks you,\u201d Jardine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said once, after her daughter jumped off the dock while wearing a life jacket, her legs started cramping within a minute due to the cold.<\/p>\n \u201cCold water shock is a real thing, and it happens very frequently, even in the summer,\u201d said Lalonde. \u201cIt can affect your limbs, your cognition, so you would not be able to self-rescue as well as you normally would be able to in, like, a pool setting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The homeowners association is adding more signs signalling how deep the lake is, among other warnings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jardine would like to see signs that warn about the water temperature. She says the idea of removing the dock was also discussed at the AGM.<\/p>\n Life jackets and lifeguards <\/p>\n Mahogany Lake, like other community lakes in Calgary, does not have lifeguards. Jardine says there has been a lot of talk among residents about changing that.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780008853_57_default.jpg\")
Flowers placed next to the gate leading to Mahogany Lake in August 2025 in honour of two young men who drowned. (Colleen Underwood\/CBC)Water so cold ‘it shocks you’ <\/p>\n
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