Rideau Canal - Water Level Management Update - June 19, 2023

Rideau Canal - Water Level Management Update – June 19, 2023

Parks Canada's water management team continues to actively monitor water levels, flows, and weather forecasts across the Rideau Canal National Historic Site of Canada. These factors are used to determine dam operations on a daily basis for the Rideau Canal National Historic Site of Canada.

Parks Canada maintains the Ontario Waterways Water Management InfoNet on the Rideau Canal website at https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/rideau/info/infonet

The InfoNet contains background information on water management practices, water management updates, frequently asked questions about water management, various reports on water management, and the most recent water levels of lakes along both the Rideau Canal and the Trent-Severn Waterway. The information comes from hydrometric gauges located at key points along both waterways and is vetted by trained and experienced Parks Canada water management staff.

This information is intended as supplemental information only. Stakeholders should continue to refer to their respective Conservation Authority or the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry as the primary source for relevant flood forecasting information specific to their area. These are the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and the Cataraqui Conservation Authority.

Weather

Rainfall amounts for May have been below normal, with similar trends being observed for June. The 10-day forecast suggests a transition to high temperatures, with less than 5 mm in the forecast.

Outlook

Despite the wetter-than-normal spring conditions, the sudden shift to the current hot and dry conditions resulted in a quick reduction of local inflows and enhanced the rates of evaporation. As the system quickly transitioned from a surplus state to summer like conditions, water management and operational activities were conducted to appropriately respond to the changes, which resulted in fluctuations across the system.

The Rideau Canal, Water Management team, will be active, and the changing conditions will be closely monitored. Any watershed conditions updates will be released by your Conservation Authority.

Cataraqui River

All lake levels in the Cataraqui River system are near or above the average values.

Tay River

Bobs Lakes is below average level. Outflows from Bobs Lake are being managed to ensure the stable flow rate down the Tay River as well as to augment the rate of decline on Big Rideau Lake, which is below average.

Rideau River

Wolfe Lake is below average, and Upper Rideau Lake is above average due to recent localized rain events. Levels in the river from Smiths Falls to Ottawa all remain within navigation range.