'Spring melt in January'; Record January thaw prompts response to rising lake levels

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'Spring melt in January'; Record January thaw prompts response to rising lake levels

 

By Colin McKim

Wednesday January 23 2008

orilliapacket.com

 

With Lake Simcoe close to brimming over because of a record January thaw, Parks Canada has had to open sluice gates downstream to draw the big lake back down to normal winter levels.

 

This emergency outflow has created strong currents in the canal between Lake Couchiching and Lock 42 that have swept away the ice and will make the three-kilometre stretch unsafe for snowmobiling the rest of the winter, even if it does freeze over again.

 

"I'm not sure we've ever experienced the lake so high this time of year," said Dave Ness, water control engineer with the Trent-Severn Waterway. "It's basically a spring melt in January."

 

Every fall, the TSW opens sluice gates at locks along the Severn River to draw the water in lakes Simcoe and Couchiching down 20 centimetres to create capacity for the spring runoff.

 

But so much water flooded into the basin in January that Lake Simcoe is only two centimetres from the maximum.

 

If this excess water was not drained away between now and the spring thaw, Lake Simcoe could overflow dikes and spill into parts of the Holland Marsh that are below lake level, said Ness.

 

Flooding in the Black River water- shed north and east of Lake Couchi- ching would also be severe if the two lakes were not drawn down again, he pointed out.

 

The three-kilometre canal between Lake Couchiching and Lock 42 is typ- ically iced over in January, Ness said, and it is fairly safe for snowmobiling most winters.

 

But the current caused in the canal by opening the discharge valves at Lock 42 eats away at the underside of the ice and makes it unsafe.

 

The TSW sent out an information bulletin Monday advising people to stay well clear of the channel above and below the lock.

 

Ness said the water will be running through the canal to Lock 42 for the balance of the winter, so if ice reappears it will not be safe for walking or snowmobiling.

 

The unexpected flow through the canal has already washed away several docks and a canoe, said one area resident.

 

Jim Partridge, president of the Orillia and District Snowmobile Club, said there are no designated trails that cross the canal between Washago and Lock 42.

 

"Our major trail to the north is on the east side of Lake Couchiching," said Partridge. "It doesn't affect us."