KAGAWONG – With concerns having been raised by local residents as to lower than normal water levels in Lake Kagawong, the chair of the Lake Kagawong Resource Committee (LKRC) said these same concerns have been raised with Oakville Energy (OE) officials.
“At our (LKRC) committee meeting last night we agreed that although we have a good relationship with OE, we have to improve the line of communication with the company to make sure things such as the low water levels (with the company operating they hydro dam) last week, which were at the same levels as they normally are at the end of August or September, don’t occur at this time of the year,” said Billings Township Councillor Bryan Barker, chair of LKRC. “At this time of the year the water levels should be at the top of the standard guidelines.”
He pointed out the committee and township had not been in communication with OE up until last week when they were called to close the dam. “If someone is not keeping an eye on this, this is the type of thing that can happen.”
Mr. Barker explained that LKRC is arranging to have a meeting with a representative of OE soon, for both parties to discuss this and any other issues that have cropped up.
“We are nowhere near close to a possible flooding situation on the lake this spring, and I doubt we are going to get 10-20 centimetres of rain in the next little while that would cause this,” said Mr. Barker. “We might be facing a spring where the water levels are lower than normal. That is why the committee felt we need to save as much water as possible now.”
“Because we haven’t met for awhile, there seems to be a disconnect between a group and (OE), although in fairness we were monitoring the water levels and knew they were low, but we were also expecting a good amount of rain over the last while as well,” said Mr. Barker. He pointed out he and other members of the LKRC received lots of calls and emails from residents voicing concerns with the low water levels. “We may have dropped the ball a little on this whole issue as well.”
“We are looking at having a community meeting to answer questions and to outline how the water levels are operated,” continued Mr. Barker. “We would like to have the public forum when the pandemic is over, and have OE reps there as well. I think the meeting would be well attended and it would alleviate some of the public’s concerns.”
