High water levels discussed at public meetings in Rainy River and Warroad

Ken Johnston
Editor

Two meetings last week saw over 100 people from the Lake of the Woods area turnout. They were meetings to discuss the effects the high water levels of the past summer had on the south side of the lake and how the Lake of the Woods Water Control Board dealt with them.

Rick Walden, the Executive Engineer for LWCB, explained that it is his board that controls the levels on Lake of the Woods as long as they remain within a rule curve from 1056 ft. to 1061 ft. above sea level. If the levels drop below or go above then the International Lake of the Woods Water Control Board takes over. These boards were formed in 1925 and most of the control was given to the LWCB, which is based in Ottawa, Ontario, because the majority of the watershed is in Canada.

In a normal year the LWCB goes about its business rarely hearing from the public. But in a year like 2001, where there was an excessive amount of rainfall over several sustained periods, they have heard from many folks.

At the Rainy River meeting last Wednesday, several members of the public expressed strong concerns about the erosion to their shoreline property. One lady said that they have consistently had erosion over the past several years.

Walden acknowledged that 3 of the past 5 years have seen high water levels. He further noted that there is always erosion of shorelines as water passes by picking up shoreline from one area and depositing it somewhere else. “Erosion has been going on since the existence of the lake. However the adding of dams early last century changed the dynamics of the lake and rosion occurs at a higher level.”

The higher water levels the past five years have also increased the rate of erosion, especially on the south side of the lake where the shoreline is lower and sandy, as opposed to the northern part of the lake where the Canadian Shield dominates the shoreline.

Some members of the audience asked why it takes two weeks for the LWCB to make changes to the outflows when the rainfall levels in 2001 were so high.

That was most noticeable on charts showing the flows for the spring of this year. However Walden said that before the heavy rains hit in early spring, they were anticipating a very dry year, as they saw water levels drop to new record lows in April. As the rain hit they could not anticipate that it would keep coming for a sustained period of time. In other words they could not predict what Mother Nature was going to do and hence have to wait until they have done 14 day averages before taking definitive action to reduce lake levels through increased out flows. They also noted that a one day in level spikes at the gauges on the lake could only be the wind whipping up levels.

Gauges are used by the LWCB to keep a constant watch on the levels. Data from real time gauges is transmitted by satellite and land lines to the LWCB n Ottawa. Other long term measuring gauges like the one on the Government Dock in Rainy River are used to keep track of things over the long haul and make decisions later.

This year’s water level peak was the 8th highest since 1915. That caused a great deal of shoreline erosion, but Walden said they tried very hard to keep all areas of the watershed balanced the best they could. He showed pictures of properties below the Norman Dam in Kenora on the Winnipeg River that saw water levels rise as high as 9 feet and engulf boat houses and shorelines there. “We tried to make improvements but control is limited as Mother Nature is more powerful than us,” said Walden.

David Ivall of Rainy River noted that Walden kept pointing to the fact that the LWCB seems to want to keep the water levels near the top of the rule curve and asked why not try to target the middle of the curve and give shorelines some room to breath. Blaine Ivall of Rainy River echoed David’s comments suggesting that the LWCB lower its upper operating level by about 6 inches.

Walden said that if they go to low that other interests like spawning grounds and navigable waters in some areas would be adversely affected.

Lloyd Moen of Morson said, “In the spring the water was 31 inches below the top of my dock (at New Moon Lodge) and later it was 12 inches over the dock. It is pretty hard for you people to get it much better. You don’t know what’s going to come out of the sky.” Moen added that the water was considerably higher in 1950.

Archie Wiersema of Rainy River also noted that boats are partly to blame for ncreased shoreline erosion, noting that those that travel very fast are creating larger wakes which hit the shorelines with tremendous consequences.

He suggested that boats travel slower when closer to shore during these high water times.

Walden said he believes there is a federal law that says a boat must travel slower when within a certain distance of shore.

The LWCB is funded by the Canadian, Ontario and Manitoba Governments. The agency that oversees it in Canada is Environment Canada and in the US the LWCB is overseen by the U.S. Geological Society and the Army Core of Engineers.