As your property owners association, we know that many of you have concerns about the rapidly dropping water levels and the departure from the normal rule curve. The email from water levels committee is below and explains their reasoning for this departure from the normal rule curve and the request to ijc to enter the spring supplemental flood prevention curve.
This will be talked about at the annual meeting this Thursday and we hope to see you all there.
Eric Johnson – President RLPOA
Subject: IRLWWB Water Levels Committee- Rainy Lake Update
Over the past few weeks, the Water Levels Committee (WLC) has carefully managed water flowing out of Namakan Lake and Rainy Lake to help protect lake sturgeon eggs during spawning in the Rainy River. Keeping river levels steady during this time is important because sudden drops in water levels can expose and harm the eggs.
This work has been guided by experts, including Rainy River First Nations, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. This approach has been in line with the Sturgeon Protocol.
The WLC has kept a high rate of flow out of Rainy Lake since late May to protect the sturgeon eggs. With the dry weather over this period across Rainy-Namakan watershed, all tributaries to Namakan Lake and Rainy Lake have been dropping sharply. With more flow going out of Rainy Lake than coming in, the level of the lake has been dropping below the rule curve into the Spring Buffer Zone. The WLC currently has permission from the International Joint Commission for Rainy Lake levels to be within the Spring Buffer Zone.
To keep Rainy Lake within the required levels set by the International Joint Commission, the Water Levels Committee has directed dam operators to reduce the amount of water flowing out of the lake. These changes will take place each day from Monday June 15 through Friday June 20.
The level of Rainy Lake should begin to rise once these flow cuts are done. As flow out of the lake is reduced, water levels along the Rainy River downstream of the dam will drop each day but should level off over the weekend.
A post with this information is available on the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board’s website: https://www.ijc.org/en/rlwwb/watershed/data
Please feel free to share this information with your contacts in the basin!
Sincerely,
Abby Moore, P.E.
U.S. Engineering Advisor IRLWWB- Water Levels Committee