As posted on the Parks Canada website:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/plan/plan16/plan16g.aspx
Water Management Update
March 3, 2015 - Parks Canada manages water on the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Rideau Canal on a system-wide basis to meet a broad range of stakeholder needs including recreation, municipal water supply, flood mitigation, hydro power generation and fisheries management.
Severe cold, leading to thicker ice, and a lack of mid-winter snow melt throughout Ontario are contributing to below average water-levels along the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway systems. While this weather is abnormal, its impact on the Trent-Severn Waterway and Rideau Canal water-levels is not unprecedented and water-levels have not yet dropped below established minimum draw-down levels.
Water management staff have already made adjustments and will continue to actively monitor precipitation and snow conditions, weather forecasts, water levels, and flow rates, and use this information to make decisions on dam adjustments daily.
This uncharacteristically harsh weather and its impact are not limited to the Trent-Severn Waterway and Rideau Canal but rather are wide-spread. Environment Canada is reporting that many regions of Ontario are experiencing colder – at times coldest – weather, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is advising that 88.3% of the Great Lakes are covered with ice, and news media are show-casing imagery of a "frozen" Niagara Falls.
Parks Canada fully understands that water-levels effect residents and businesses along the waterways and are sympathetic to possible related inconveniences. Water management staff have already made adjustments and will continue to actively monitor precipitation and snow conditions, weather forecasts, water levels, and flow rates, and use this information to make decisions on dam adjustments daily. Please note that all decisions and actions by Parks Canada must be done in a holistic manner, taking into account effects and consequences across the entirety of the waterways. Also, residents are reminded that home systems tied to the waterway should be configured/calibrated where possible to historic lows (see website) in order guard against disruption in services.
Parks Canada wants to assure all concerned parties that our water management team remains vigilant and that information about this matter will be provided in a timely manner.