Water levels are now slightly above normal for the date
With the ice gone and the snowpack having melted the water levels on the Mississagua Lake chain are now above normal for this date. In spite of the dry conditions through the late fall and most of the winter, and the very early snowmelt and ice out, the Trent Severn Waterway water management team has been successful in capturing available runoff and raising our lakes to just above seasonal levels while also maintaining minimum flow in the downstream river.
However the spring runoff has now receded so we are dependent on rainfall in April and May to complete the filling of our lakes. From this point on we should expect a gradual rise in levels until at least mid-May. TSW will operate the dam as soon as runoff becomes available. There are still two logs out of the dam which will be added when rainfall events occur.
On April 9 TSW issued a new Water Management Update which has been posted on the website of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow.
The Update documents that similar condition now exist across most of the Trent River basin including most reservoirs and the Kawartha lakes all of which have a significant way to go to be filled to summer levels. At this time the goal of mitigating possible flooding from extreme spring rainfall events, as have occurred several times in recent years, must be balanced against the goal to fill the system by mid-May.
The daily water level graph for Mississagua Lake and the associated table of daily levels can be found on the TSW website. The graph is updated every week day and on weekends when conditions are changing.
Ted Spence
CCA Lake Steward and Chair CEWF
See our other posts about water levels.