Hawk Lake Monitoring Station Installation
The installations of the new water level monitoring stations are proceeding well. Here, from Dave Ness of Parks Canada, is a description of the program, the benefits it will deliver, and an update of the rollout:
There are several lakes within the Trent-Severn Waterway system that will
be equipped with new/rehabilitated water level monitoring stations. The
majority of the Haliburton reservoirs will be equipped with remote
monitoring stations where feasible. Some sites within the Haliburton area
lack sufficient infrastructure to allow for communication to the site (ie.
cell phone towers or land lines). Where appropriate, stilling wells will
be affixed to the upstream face of the dams or locks to allow water level
information to be collected. In some locations monitoring sensors will
also be installed downstream of the dams to monitor levels downstream. The
majority of the lakes within the Haliburton area still rely on water level
information collected manually by staff in the field. At times this data
is collected once a week.
The benefits of these installations are extensive. The stations will
collect water level information on an hourly basis, and enhance situational
awareness and improve the water management decision making process. Once
operational, the stations will provide real-time water level information to
the water managers of the Trent-Severn Waterway to better fine tune the
allocation of water. The information collected from the sites will be
posted directly to the water levels website so that cottagers to the area
can view the status of the lake levels and adjust docks and boats
accordingly. Some of these sites will also be equipped with rainfall
monitoring equipment to measure the intensity and severity of rainfall in
the immediate area. This information is vital in mitigating flooding and
damage to public property.
To date, four monitoring stations have been installed at the following
locations: Hawk Lake, Halls Lake, Oblong Lake and Drag Lake. Seven more
stations are scheduled to be installed this fall at Canning Lake, Crystal
Lake, Farquhar Lake, Gooderham Lake, Little Glamor Lake, Loon Lake, and
Mississagua Lake. Where the sites are too remote to maneuver a crane into,
the monitoring stations will be deployed using a small barge.
Installations will not be undertaken over the winter, but are likely to
resume at the end of spring 2010. Much of the equipment needed to operate
the sites has already been acquired. Phone lines are being run to the dams
to facilitate communications. Once the stations are operational they will
be polled on a daily basis by an automated system and the water level
information can be retrieved.
so how will this change when they remove logs, this is where the improvement is needed, because currently it seems like they are on an 100 year old schedule
Knowing how much water is available is fundamental, but it is correct to observe that the TSW operating practices must be addressed. We are continuing to work with Parks Canada on behalf of our CEWF members to update these, including adding ‘water conservation’ as a key principle.