Water runs up over the walkway and a road along the Fort Frances riverfront in this drone photo. If the weather cooperates, water levels in northwestern Ontario lakes could peak by the end of the month. Photo: Nathan Calder/Facebook

From CBC News · Thunder Bay • June 18, 2022 

Many municipalities in northwestern Ontario have been struggling with flooding for weeks, but some good news may be on the horizon.

That is, if the weather cooperates.

"Fortunately, June hasn't been the same as the record precipitation we saw in April and May across the region," said Matt DeWolfe, executive engineer with the Lake of the Woods Control Board, which regulates water levels on Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul.

"We've had occasional large-intensity thunderstorms come through the area, but those are really localized," he said.

The forecast for the next seven to 10 days, DeWolfe said, is mainly hotter, dryer weather, which could mean water levels will peak by the end of June, and then start to recede.

That's good news for municipalities like Kenora, Sioux Lookout, and Fort Frances, which have been struggling with flooding for weeks.

While the board focuses on Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul, DeWolfe said the entire watershed — which is larger than Canada's Maritime provinces — is affected by high water levels and flooding.

For example, Rainy Lake has broken a water-level record set in 1950. And while Lake of the Woods hasn't broken its own record, which was also set in 1950, this year's water levels are the highest they've been since then.

The bad news is, even if water levels do peak by the end of the month, DeWolfe said it will take time for levels to return to normal. Water levels tend to take as long to drop as they did to rise, he said.

"It took about a month to get to the peak levels, and will probably take three to four weeks with good dry weather, and heat and evaporation," DeWolfe said. "I would be surprised if we saw a return to normal lake levels before the end period of July."

One municipality that's been struggling against rising waters is Fort Frances.

"The worst part right directly in Fort Frances is our waterfront," Mayor June Caul said. "It's called Front Street, and I'd say probably three quarters of that entire street is is level with ... the river water."

"It's covered the roads completely," she said. "There are no houses on the south side of that road because the river is right there. But on the north side of the road, we have a lot of sandbags up on people's properties to try to keep the water from getting into their basements."

Caul said the flooded section is completely closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Front Street isn't the only part of Fort Frances seeing flooding. Caul said Point Park and Seven Oaks are also flooded, which has caused the town to cancel this year's Canada Day celebrations and fireworks.

Repairs were also made to a rail line, as water was running under the tracks, Caul said.

Fort Frances is considering making some infrastructure upgrades to mitigate potential future flooding, Caul said, although the extent of damage from the current flood won't be known until the waters recede.

Caul did say, however, it's certain some roads will need to be repaired, and some shoreline areas will be built up, such as the area around Seven Oaks, which has seen a lot of erosion.

'We've lost a lot of the land there because of the rain and the wind," she said. "We'll probably build that up with kind of a rock fortification."

"We did that along the the Point Park area in 2014."

DeWolfe said dams in the Kenora area have been wide-open for weeks, and there's no further action the board can take to reduce lake levels.

However, he said, no damage to the dams has been reported.

"The dams are all holding up well, according to any reports from the dam operators," DeWolfe said. "The various boards involved are in constant communication with the the dam operators, so there's no concerns there."

"They're definitely being put to the test," he said. "These are, for many of these dams, conditions that haven't been seen ever, or in many, many years, but everything's working well."

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the CBC Thunder Bay website. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/fort-frances-flooding-1.6490823