NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO – Back in June, the dryer weather was a sight of relief for the Lake of the Wood as the watershed was able to crest with precipitation ranking in the 32 percentile. The lowest impacted by the rain was Rainy-Namakan which sat in the 11 percentile.
According to the Lake of the Woods Secretariat, between July 1 and 31, some areas around the north received on the lower end around 100 to 140 millimetres of rain. But in parts along Winnipeg River just North of Kenora and the upper reaches of the Rainy Lake sub-watershed near Atikokan, high precipitation ranged from 150 to 200 millimetres.
The amount of rain which was received during this time has caused many of the lakes around the region to stall at peak levels.
Lac Seul, Lake of the Woods, and Winnipeg River remain stable and are starting to decline once again.
Both Rainy and Namakan Lakes fell below their marked levels in July, but the normal upstream of Lake of the Woods allowed an outflow reduction from the Rainy Lake.
With these outflow reductions, and should precipitation conditions remain normal in August, the level of Lake of the Woods will start to decline at a much faster rate than in July.
The dams in Kenora remain fully open. Over the next week, the lake level is expected to decline by 10 to 12 centimetres.
