Reservoirs remain swollen as repairs continue
GRCA plans to review forecasting models after June 23 surprise deluge
KITCHENER — The engineers monitoring the region’s reservoirs are closely watching the skies as they try to get dam levels back to normal, after last month’s record-breaking rainfalls and subsequent flooding.
“We’re working to draw down the reservoirs as quickly as we’re able, within reason,” said Cam Linwood, a spokesperson for the authority. “It’s a delicate balance.”
The deluge that caused all the flooding along the Grand River watershed lasted just a few hours, but it could be weeks before local flood-control reservoirs are back to normal.
In a roughly two-hour span on June 23, 120 mm of rain fell at the Luther Dam — the heaviest downpour since the GRCA began recording rainfall levels in the 1950s.
The GRCA also says it’s going to review its forecasting models because it had little time to react to a weather system that dumped far more rain here than expected.
“There was no warning,” Linwood said. “The only warnings we had from Environment Canada said there was a chance of severe thunderstorms, but there was no mention of a significant rainfall. They were predicting between five and 10 millimetres.”
Linwood said some people have asked why the GRCA keeps its reservoirs at such high levels, suggesting lowering the water would give the reservoirs more ability to absorb heavy rainfalls and prevent flooding.
But he said there’s a “balancing act” the authority needs to manage, including providing enough water in dry spells for drink-
ing water and sewage treatment facilities down river.
Meanwhile, work crews have been busy trying to rebuild stretches of the Walter Bean Trail that were closed after the flooding washed away sections of the popular trail.
The majority of that riverside trail should be reopened by Friday, according to Victoria Raab, director of corporate communications for the City of Kitchener. While most of the high water has receded, there was a lot of erosion and other damage that needs to be repaired.
“There were sections of the trail that had very deep ruts, based on the ebb and flow of the water, and we had debris that had washed up on the trail,” Raab said.
At Kiwanis Park, contractors hope to resume work on Friday on a $4.1-million project to rebuild the popular outdoor pool after flooding set that construction back. The flooding delayed that work by about a week, the city said.
By Wednesday, staff at the cityowned Doon Valley Golf Course say the entire course should finally be reopened after greens were submerged in the swollen Grand River.
Other riverside trails, including washed-out sections of Snyder’s Flats, are also weeks away from reopening. Tubing at the Elora Gorge, a popular GRCA property, remains closed while the conservation authority works to repair a damaged launch area and bridge over the river.
The other problem is that water is still moving twice as fast as it normally does this time of year.
“It’ll take a week or more to repair that damage, but it may take as long or more to bring those flows back down to normal operating water levels,” Linwood said.