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Last week’s heavy rain caused lake levels to stabilize for a day or two, but the drawdown of Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul has resumed.
The Lake of the Woods Control Board says, “weekly [rainfall] totals were well above average ranging from 40 to 75 mm for most areas. This rainfall has caused tributary flows to increase temporarily and lake levels to stabilize for a day or two.”
Lake of the Woods was able to decline by 10 cm (3 in) over the past week to an average level of 323.72 m (1062.1 ft), over 95th percentile level for this time of year. Over the next seven days, the lake is anticipated to drop by 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5 in) as the Kenora dams remain fully open.
The Winnipeg River between Kenora and Minaki is expected to gradually fall between 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) over the next week as the Lake of the Woods level falls.
Lac Suel dropped 3 cm (1 in) this week and is expected to drop 6 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) this week.
Last week, the Control Board said with water levels returning to more normal ranges in northwestern Ontario, the board will no longer be operating on an emergency basis and will now focus on maintaining maximum outflows from Lake of the Woods until levels return to the legislated operating range, followed by a balanced draw-down of the lake in order to reach normal water levels ahead of the winter freeze-up.