Most Reservoirs Now Well Above Normal Levels
The extreme rainfall totals over the last two weeks have left the entire Trent-Severn Waterway system above full including the reservoir area. The TSW water management team is monitoring conditions and operating dams to pass as much water downstream as possible while managing the flood risk in communities like Minden and Peterborough.
For the last several days they have been increasing flows on the Waterway at night, and now they have announced the closure of part of the Waterway so they can pass higher flows downstream – click here
In the reservoirs we can expect active dam management as the team works to bring the whole system back to normal seasonal levels.
In our presentations on water management, we have always noted that the TSW is not a flood control system, and that we are most vulnerable to high levels and flows in late spring when the system is near to full. This year we are seeing way above normal rainfall totals across the entire Trent Basin resulting in very high levels and flows. Extreme weather conditions are occurring with more frequency. This is the third time in the last year that TSW has had to curtail navigation on the waterway to deal with high flows resulting from rainfall events. It is also notable that by the middle of June 2021 we were looking at drought conditions before extreme rainfall totals in July and again in September/October.
The water management team is on the job 24/7 and will continue to monitor conditions and operate dams to manage levels and flow across the entire system including the reservoirs.