HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-10-19, Page 2424 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Low water advisory increased for ARCA watershed
Extremely low
stream flow
and dry creeks
in watershed
Justine Alkema
Clinton News Record
In July, the Water Response
Team (WRT) through the
Ausable Bayfield Conserva-
tion Authority declared a
Level 1 Low Water Advisory.
A Level 1 advisory encour-
ages the public to reduce
their water usage by 10%.
This advisory was put in
place due to the extremely
dry weather the watershed
saw this spring and summer.
Now, they have raised that
advisory to Level 2, which
encourages residents to vol-
untarily reduce their water
usage by 20%. This is the first
Level 2 since 2012.
For the month of Septem-
ber, rainfall was only 20-40
per cent of the monthly nor-
mal. This resulted in Sep-
tember stream flow being
only 5-10 percent of the
monthly normal. Many
watercourses have either
stopped flowing or have
dried up completely.
"This year's precipitation
was very streaky," said Alec
M. Scott, P. Eng. Water and
Planning Manager at ABCA.
"So if you have a wet system
come through, the water
comes in bands."
He mentioned that it was
quite a bit dryer in the mid-
dle of the watershed than in
the northern and southern
parts.
In many areas, the flows
are so low they reflect a more
serious Level 3 low water
condition. However they
have not declared a Level 3
because there is less of a
need for irrigation this time
of year for things such as
crops and golf courses.
While water levels might
be very low, there is less
demand for this water in the
fall than in the spring.
They likely will not declare
a Level 3 at this point for this
reason, even if the situation
does not get better.
"In the 15 -year history of
the ABCA's Low Water
Response Program, stream
flow through [this] Septem-
ber is in the range of the
record lows set in September
Hullctt Rale
Wlldntin
Are,
Ociundasyp
Justine Alkema/Clinton News Record
The Hullet Provincial Wildlife Area has been heavily affected by the lack of precipitation this summer. The water levels in all of the
pools are very low, and 20 hunting stakes are completely dried up.
of 2012," said Davin Hein -
buck, Lands and Water
Technologist at ABCA.
When it has been close to
a Level 3, there have been
meetings with those who
own permits for irrigation in
order to find ways to share
the limited supply of water.
ABCA staff members say
they are hopeful that as we
move through autumn, a
shift to wetter weather will
occur, allowing more rainfall
to become available to local
streams.
Snowfall may help the sit-
uation somewhat, but how
much is absorbed by the
ground depends on how
quickly it melts.
However, staff members
remain cautious, as it maybe
necessary to for the WRT to
consider keeping a Low
Water Advisory in place
through the winter. A deci-
sion of this nature would put
the WRT in a better position
to deal with any water short-
ages should that be a con-
cern in the spring of 2017.
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