HALIBURTON COUNTY, ON – Lakes along the Trent Severn Waterway system could start looking lower than in the past.
According to the latest drawdown forecast from the TSW, all of the lakes in the Burnt and Gull River Watersheds are expected to continue to lower between this month and November of this year.
A reason for the lower water levels going down over those months is mostly because of the regular drawdown process.
Drawdown is when TSW pulls water from lakes and rivers along the watershed. According to TSW, it happens regularly throughout the summer months.
The process takes into consideration a number of factors like storage capacity of the lakes on the system, timing of fishery spawning, requirements for flood mitigation, typical fall and winter precipitation levels, downstream topography including constrictions like narrow river beds or dams, and overall volumes and flow rates.
For contrast, Kennisis Lake is expected to drop by .217 metres between now and November
According to Algonquin Highlands Mayor Carol Moffatt, another contributing factor to lower water levels is lower than normal rainfall amounts for July. She says the rainfall is “at least 75 % below normal”.
The mayor also points to hot and dry conditions resulting in a lower in-flow rate, and higher evaporation as a factor.
The latest TSW drawdown forecast can be found by clicking here