Photo: Boulevard Lake's water levels dropped severely overnight Sunday, after 11 of the 12 gates on the lake's dam were opened. But exactly how the dam was opened remains unknown. (Kris Ketonen/CBC)

By CBC News Staff - CBC News - June 27, 2022

The City of Thunder Bay is investigating what exactly caused the opening of the Boulevard Lake dam on Sunday night, draining the north-side lake.

The lake levels were reported as normal at 10 p.m. Sunday, according to city engineering and operations director Kayla Dixon, who spoke at a media conference held at the lake on Monday afternoon,

However, at some point after that, 11 of the dam's 12 gates were opened, mostly draining the lake overnight.

The city was notified of the low water levels at about 7 a.m. Monday, but officials don't yet know exactly why the dam was opened.

"The circumstances regarding the lowering of the gates are under investigation, and in addition, we do have the perimeter of the lake and downstream being assessed for any environmental impacts," Dixon said.

There are several city staff who are trained to manually operate the gates, which is done on-site using a remote control device, she said.

"At this time, we have determined that no city staff operated the gates," Dixon said. "There was no fault that could be found to say that the gates dropped somehow automatically."

The gates are not automated, Dixon said; a system allowing that is scheduled to be installed, but that hasn't taken place yet.

Under the current system, each gate has to be opened individually, one after another, she said.

Manually controlling the gates would require "knowledge, or a lot of playing around."

"Even just to access the actuators, you either have to step over the railings on the site or reach really really far," Dixon said.

Dixon also said no surveillance video is available. Cameras are scheduled to be installed there as part of the dam automation process.

All but one gate has now been raised, but Dixon said it will likely still be weeks before the lake returns to normal summer levels.

The city is required to maintain a certain water flow through the dam to preserve fish habitat.

Dixon said the incident has been reported to police, as well as the province. Anyone with information is asked to contact the city's dispatch line at 807-625-2195.

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