Unsafe for swimming
Water levels in Lake Ontario are still well above average — and not expected to change anytime soon — as the date for the highest ever peak flow approaches, according to Gail Faveri of the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board.
“I want you to tell your readership that we’re going to have high waters on Lake Ontario for a long time to come,” said Faveri. She says people need to be prepared and exercise caution, especially if there’s a storm. “There’s a lot of debris floating around in the water.”
In the meantime, Niagara residents can expect a return to warmer weather this weekend after so many weeks of cool, rainy conditions.
Environment Canada projects both Saturday and Sunday to be mostly warm and sunny with temperatures expected to reach 28 C on Saturday and 29 C on Sunday.
Environment Canada says rain will return on Monday, with a 30 per cent chance of showers, but temeratures will remain warm with an expected high of 31 C.
In terms of lake levels, Faveri says this year has already been a record-setting year, with levels already being above record-levels for five weeks.
The water outflow from Lake Ontario is currently the highest it’s ever been, with over 10,200 cubic metres per second flowing out of the Lake. The average for this week is around 7,300 cubic metres per second and the average for the year being 6,700. Faveri says water outflow can’t go more than that because there are still people “up to their eyes in water” in Montreal as the St. Lawrence River suffers similar problems.
The main cause of the flooding in Lake Ontario is rain, says Faveri.
“It’s misleading to say it was the snow melt. In terms of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, this winter wasn’t very high in snow melt. There wasn’t that much snow that fell.”
In terms of the Ottawa water-basin, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (FOC) reports from May say that the levels in Lake Ontario were more than 0.7 metres above average for the time of year, which paints a clearer picture of just how much higher water levels are.
“Mariners should exercise extreme caution throughout the entire system, especially during periods of strong winds when water levels can rise or fall significantly in a short period of time,” says Fisheries and Oceans.
Furthermore, Public Health Niagara warns that current high water levels create a high-risk for water contaminants, especially in private wells.
A press release at from the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board says, “the first week of June has been drier than the longterm average first week of June, a typically wet month. If these drier conditions continue, the high Lake Ontario outflows are expected to surpass inflows, at which time Lake Ontario’s water level will decline.”
“However, owing to the huge surface area and large volume of water on Lake Ontario, it will take several weeks to significantly reduce levels, and longer to return to the average water level for the time of year.”
Niagara Region has begun testing water quality at the 26 public beaches it monitors. As of Friday afternoon, six of the beaches were listed as being unsafe for swimming. Beaches are posted unsafe/closed when water tests show unacceptable levels of E. Coli bacteria. The beach might also be unsafe because of floating debris, oil, excessive weed growth, bad odours and general turbidity, says the regional health department.
Swimming in these waters could cause infections of the ear, eye, nose, throat and skin as well as cause diarrhea if the water is ingested.
A number of beaches, particularly on the Lake Ontario side of the region, have been posted as unsafe, while most Lake Erie beaches are listed as safe.