Things are returning to normal for staff with the Lake of the Woods Control Board.
Staff say with water levels returning to more normal ranges in northwestern Ontario, the board will no longer be operating on an emergency basis – which included frequent meetings with municipalities, ministries and First Nation communities.
This comes after levels on Lake of the Woods dropped by another 4” this week, with another 2 to 3” drop expected over the coming days. Levels on the Winnipeg River are also set to drop between 2 to 3” between Kenora and Minaki.
Now, the Lake of the Woods Control Board says they’ve resumed normal operations and have adopted a new Regulation Strategy after consultations with community partners and Grand Council Treaty #3.
It focuses on maintaining maximum outflows from Lake of the Woods until levels return to the legislated operating range, followed by a balanced draw-down of the lake in order to reach normal water levels ahead of the winter freeze-up.
Elsewhere, the LWCB says Lac Seul is at its 80th percentile level after dropping by 1” last week. It’s expected to drop by another 2 to 3” over the next week, with no scheduled outflow changes.