Today is the Spring Equinox, which typically heralds the start of spring. It seemed like things were warming up in Algonquin Highlands, with temperatures well above zero, substantial snow melting, closure of snowmobile trails, and a couple of logs put in at the Big Hawk Dam. However, winter has said “not so fast”, and has returned with a vengeance. We’ve had about a foot of snow since Monday, March 16!
This week, Coalition for Equitable Water Flow (CEWF) has issued an alert for the Trent-Severn Waterways. Roger Cunningham of CEWF notes:
As our rollercoaster winter weather continues we’d like to share what we’re keeping an eye on.
Water levels were very low at freeze-up, as a result of our dry summer, prompting CEWF to liaise with TSW a bit more than usual over the winter.
So far this year, some early warm temperatures allowed TSW to begin log operations earlier than the long term average. As a result, we saw a short-term spike in water levels. You can see these spikes on the TSW Water Levels Graphs here.
As of the date of writing, March 18, there’s still lots of snow around, and lake ice typically remains firm. So while that short-term spike is good for raising water levels, it could – and we stress could – become challenging as ice begins to break up and move around. Potential challenges include things such as ice impacts on lakefront infrastructure and water lines or ropes trapped in ice.
CEWF recommends keeping an eye on changing conditions if you’re at your property, and if you’re not, we will be posting any concerns here.