MANITOULIN—The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) tracks water levels on a number of inland lakes on Manitoulin Island and those lakes are either close to or below their recommended levels.
“We track the water levels on the three lakes on the Island, each of which has an MNRF operating dam: Lake Manitou, Mindemoya Lake and Big Lake,” said Brian Riche, Sudbury District resources management supervisor with the MNRF, in an email communication with The Expositor. “We also monitor the water levels of Kagawong Lake through the Water Management Plan for the Kagawong Power dam.”
Shoreline residents on Big Lake have been noting that the current levels are the lowest they have seen in their lifetimes. While low water levels on inland lakes with dams are often controversial, with an associated tendency toward hyperbole in debate, in this case the data seems to back that observation up.
“Water levels for Lake Manitou, Mindemoya Lake, Big Lake and Kagawong Lake are close to or below the bottom of recommended winter levels,” confirmed Mr. Riche. “We have had this past spring, summer and fall on the Island with below average rain fall.”
“We will need significant snow this winter or significant spring rain to bring these lakes back up to normal levels for next summer,” said Mr. Riche.
But as to whether the levels are the lowest in living memory, the evidence is not as close to hand. “We have easy access to records for Lake Manitou, Mindemoya Lake and Big Lake for the past 20 years,” he noted. “Previous to that, the records have been archived. For Kagawong Lake, you would need to contact Kagawong Power.”
Although Islanders are very familiar with the experience of watching rainstorms pass to the north and south of Manitoulin, dousing the mainland and Lake Huron, it seems we are not alone in experiencing low inland lake water levels.
“In MNRF Sudbury district, we manage and track water levels for 16 MNRF operating dams,” said Mr. Mr. Riche. “Of the 13 dams not on the Island, eight of them are near to the bottom of their recommended winter range.”
“The water levels are definitely the lowest I have seen, since at least 1990,” said Barry Williamson of Williamson’s Hardware in Mindemoya, who lives on the shores of Big Lake. Mr. Williamson noted that while his home has “knock on wood” not been negatively impacted as they have a well, “anyone drawing water from the lake would likely be having a problem.”
While he admitted to not having the answer to the issue, Mr. Williamson suggested that not drawing water levels down as much during the spring runoff might help.
“They have thrown a lot of brainpower at it over the years, so you would think they have it pretty down pat,” said Mr. Williamson.
The lack of precipitation comes as no surprise to Islanders, many of whom seem to have been in the thrall of near drought conditions for the past decade, but if the current water levels of inland lakes on Manitoulin are to be reversed, the Island mantra over the winter months may well be “let it snow, let it snow let it snow.”
