Ideas flow during dry times

[kickingfrog]

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2622441

 

 

 

Ideas flow during dry times — PHOTOS

Lake Nipissing ater levels 63 cm below lake’s long-term average

Posted By DAVE DALE The Nugget

Posted 7:00pm June 14th

 

 

Lake Nipissing's low water level is causing a stir as some people see the bigger beaches as an opportunity while others look to the skies for a solution.

 

Paul Mitchell, president of Amphibious Boats Canada came to North Bay Monday to promote the Sealegs, a powerboat with retractable legs to transport itself from the trailer to water.

 

 

Mitchell drove it up on Marathon Beach for a demonstration and it didn't take long before passersby were walking up to take a closer look.

 

Len and Bev Clarke stopped to ask Mitchell more about the patented technology, with wheels powered by a separate engine that rise out of the way so there's no drag.

 

At $80,000, however, Mitchell admitted it's not something everybody can afford.

 

Marc Arcand, of the Starlight Marina in Sturgeon Falls, called The Nugget last week about the possibility of seeding clouds to induce more rainfall.

 

Arcand said he'd like to form a committee to raise the $42,000 a Texas company charges to salt the skies.

 

It's going to take a lot of seeds, though. Lake Nipissing is 63 centimetres below its long-term average and the French River has a mere trickle compared to most years.

 

According to data posted to the Public Works Canada website Monday, the flow at Dry Pine Bay is 138 cubic metres per second below the long term average.

 

Shoreline on Lake Nipissing has expanded by more than 100 metres in some areas and the city has blocked several public access points off Premier Road.

 

"The problem was we were getting a number of people thinking it was Daytona Beach," said Jerry Knox, the city's director of community services, adding the people who were racing on the sand were crossing private land.

 

 

"Some people own water lots," Knox said, referring to lot allowances which usually extend into the lake for about 20 metres from the regular property lines.

 

He said the public access points are not intended for motorized vehicles to be used recreationally on beaches.

 

As for access to launch boats, he said there are alternatives.

 

"The last time I checked, you could still use Champlain Park," Knox said, adding that the North Bay Marina and the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority launch at Chippewa Creek are additional options.

 

Phil Hall, a Ministry of Natural Resources lands and water specialist at the North Bay district office, is fielding calls from people questioning why so much water was let out of Lake Nipissing through the dams on the French River.

 

Hall is the MNR representative for a group of stakeholders and dam operators who decide how to manage water levels to protect against flooding.

 

He said Public Works Canada, which manages the dams on the French River, would have had to know for certain back in December how much snow and rain was going to hit or not hit the watershed.

 

If the group took a chance and kept too much water in the basin, he said everyone would be facing a different problem.

 

"You're really putting yourself in a flood-prone position, a liability position."

 

Hall said he spoke to a local yacht club recently about the situation.

 

"They're rightfully not happy," he said, noting some have invested large sums of money on boats left high and dry this year.

 

"But they've accepted it grudgingly . . . there's nothing anybody can do about it at this stage."

 

Most of Northwestern Ontario is facing the same problem, he said, although it's more apparent on water bodies such as Lake Nipissing because of the shallow, sloping shoreline.

 

It's not as noticeable on deep lakes with steeper banks, Hall said.

 

With files from Gord Young