Otonabee Conservation advises that the Flood Warning for the Kawartha Lakes, Otonabee River and Rice Lake that was first issued Friday, April 12, 2019, is hereby cancelled effective May 21, 2019.
The extremely high water levels and flows experienced throughout the Trent-Severn Waterway system during the past five to six weeks are now ending. That is, effective today, reductions of outflows are currently being undertaken on all the Kawartha Lakes in the geographical jurisdiction of the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority (Chemong, Buckhorn, Pigeon, Lower Buckhorn, Lovesick, Stony, Clear, Katchewanooka). Likewise, the flow of the Otonabee River will be reduced by 50 cubic meters per second (cms) today thereby lowering it to 223 cms (measured at Lakefield). This flow reduction will drop the water level of the Otonabee River at the end of Matchett Line in the Township of Otonabee-South Monaghan by approximately 40 centimeters to about 188.0 meters above sea level over the next 24 hours. In addition, further reductions to the Otonabee River over the following days will bring flows at Lakefield down to 120 cms by Friday, May 27th. Rice Lake, which is currently above average for this time of year, will likewise drop over the coming days as the upstream flow reductions work their way down the Trent-Severn Waterway system.
Current water level data and information regarding lakes and rivers along the Trent-Severn Waterway is available on-line via Parks Canada’s Ontario Waterways Water Management InfoNet website at www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/info/infonet
The Otonabee Region Conservation Authority will continue to monitor local weather, water levels / flows, soil moisture, evapotranspiration rates and other watershed conditions in conjunction with our partners in flood forecasting and warning / flood management including, but not limited to Environment Canada, Parks Canada, Water Survey of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and our local member municipalities (Selwyn, Douro-Dummer, Asphodel-Norwood, Otonabee-South Monaghan, Cavan Monaghan, City of Kawartha Lakes, City of Peterborough and Trent Hills).