Ice soon to retreat from Lake Nipissing

[kickingfrog]

Interesting quote: "Lake Nipissing's water level is actually about 30 centimetres above the long-term average based on a 48-year span"

 

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2512903

 

 

Ice soon to retreat from Lake Nipissing

Posted By BRANDI CRAMER The Nugget

Updated 9:30pm, March 29,2010

 

 

 

Place your bets, or at least your best guess.

 

The ice will soon be gone from Lake Nipissing and if you're in a pool and relying on past results, you may want to reconsider.

 

"This is exceptionally early," said Doug Desjardins, the person responsible with running the friendly pool at Royal Canadian Air Force Alliance 406 Squadron.

 

 

Desjardins, who owns a cottage on Restoule Lake, figures the ice will be history there by the end of Easter weekend.

 

As for Lake Nipissing, the 406 Wing pool has dates listed from April 16 to May 1.

 

"I am not sure if we will make it to the 16th of April," he said.

 

Last year Lake Nipissing was free of ice April 28 while Restoule Lake was ice-free April 22.

 

Demarco's Confectionery also gives its customers a chance to prognosticate on the yearly melt.

 

Its pool participants have mostly placed guesses from the beginning of April to about the 20th.

 

"It's almost full," said Denise Ward, a clerk at the store.

 

Walking along the shore of Lake Nipissing, people may wonder whether there will be enough water to take out a pleasure craft, with metres of sand already visible.

 

Lake Nipissing's water level is actually about 30 centimetres above the long-term average based on a 48-year span, said Phil Hall with the Ministry of Natural Resources.

 

"People look out on the lake and see sand and it looks low and it is compared to regular summer navigation levels," he said.

 

Over the course of the winter, Lake Nipissing was drawn down four feet.

 

"Starting Thanksgiving the lake is drawn down at a rate of about one centimetre a day. This creates a four-foot reservoir in the lake designed to catch spring runoff and normal spring rains. So we have room in the lake to accommodate it," Hall said.

 

But because of this year's early spring-like conditions, Lake Nipissing dams owned by Ontario Public Works and Government Services Canada were closed about three weeks earlier than normal because there was little risk of flooding in the watershed.

 

"Normally this time of year we have significant snowpack to melt," Hall said.

 

But Mother Nature went light on the area and warmed up early leaving little runoff for the lake.

 

"Most of the water in the lake will come from spring rains," Hall said.

 

"The objective right now is to catch as much available precipitation to try and raise the lake another 80 centimetres."

 

As of Monday, the water level of Lake Nipissing was at 194.98 metres above sea level.

 

"By the long weekend in May we want to be at 195.75 above sea level," Hall said.

 

Currently Lake Nipissing is rising slowly — about one centimetre a day — but that rate is starting to decline because of the lack of runoff and precipitation, despite the dams being closed.

 

"We have had years like this before but we recovered because we had wet months in May and June," Hall said.

 

"The last really dry year where the lake never recovered was 1999. If you recall that year, many area wells were going dry. Wells went dry that never did in the lifetime of people," Hall recalled.

 

Flooding causes real damage while low water creates inconvenience, Hall said.

 

"In the natural world water goes up and down and we have to learn to live with it best we can, because as I have said many times the biggest factor in the equation is precipitation, which we have no control over," he said.

 

"We could have one good three-inch rainfall and things start rolling again. Gotta take what Mother Nature gives you."

 

Hall's prediction for Lake Nipissing being clear of ice — April 15.

 

For more information on Lake Nipissing or French River water levels call 1-866-763-2300.

 

[email protected]

[ADB]

April 15th...that sounds a tad early for up there but with the temperatures next week, it sounds about right.

 

I'm heading to Algonquin on May 2nd, and my concern is that the ice is going too early, and not early enough.