Kaia paddled into the water at Ashbridges Bay Beach on Lakeshore Blvd. The two-and-a-half year old Rhodesian Ridgeback sniffed and walked out toward her ball. She was exploring the new lake that has been created, something not seen in about 50 years.

“This is the first time in half a century that this large a quantity of water has been seen on the beach,” said Matthew Cutler, spokesperson for Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

About 30 years ago, he said the area where the volleyball court sits was a bay and part of the lake.

The water on the beach isn’t created by rain, he said. This is water that’s been thrown up from the lake during storm activity to create a new inner lake that we have in the harbour now, Cutler said.

“It’s new water area,” he said.

But this is an area of the waterfront, he said, which about 30 or 40 years ago was underwater.

“So, it’s not that there’s never been water,” he said, “but in the last few years that’s all been beach area and that beach has been steadily growing.”

Roxanne Boutzis, who owns Kaia, said she comes to the area with her dog once or twice a week but it was only a few weeks ago that she noticed the new lake appear.

“It was a lot smaller — it’s hard to tell because they took the fences away but it’s extended beyond the fence,” Boutzis said, pointing to orange snow fences that rested in water. “It’s grown bigger. I’ve never seen it like this before, so it’s interesting.”

A pink and a green Muskoka chair sat in the middle of the new lake. From the volleyball courts mists swirled while more and more people gathered on the beach on a warm April afternoon.

Peter Psirlis was putting up a volleyball net. He said he comes to the beach everyday but this is the first time he can remember this happening.

It’s stagnant water that is a perfect place for bulrushes and grass, he said.

“It could turn into a wetland.” He guessed it’s at least three feet deep in the middle.

Marcus Kihn, who’s lived in the area for about eight years said he’s seen some grass grow by the volleyball courts last year in the summer.

“There were a few puddles in the last few years,” he said, looking around. “Never seen it this deep and this widespread.”

He also found it interesting that the lake is disconnected and finger-like in some places.

Cutler said the City’s main priority is protecting the Leuty Lifeguard Station, which is a heritage structure, and the boardwalk.

The Ashbridges Bay Volleyball programming is not scheduled to start until May 8 so the City will continue to monitor the situation and work with the permit holder who runs the volleyball programming to figure out whether or not any changes need to be made or if the programming is going to be impacted, he said.

But it’s hard to say, he added.

Coastal zones change and evolve naturally, Cutler said.

“It’s part of the reality — this is a natural lake — and we can do some work to try and manage it but it is all very natural,” he said.