Outflow from Rainy Lake reduced again

The outflow from Rainy Lake was reduced again Monday because the water level was still declining.
“Although it received a brief respite due to the rain from last week, the lake is continuing to go down so the outflow has been reduced from 85 cubic metres per second to 75 cubic metres per second,” noted Rick Cousins, senior hydrological engineer with the Lake of the Woods Secretariat.
“We’re looking at a weekly decline of one centimeter,” he added.
The International Joint Commission, which issued a supplementary order last month that could see the outflow reduced to 63.7 cubic metres a second, receives a daily report of the levels for communities that receive their water supply from Rainy River.
Cousins said Emo should be fine for the time being.
“The water level there [Tuesday] was higher than it has been all last week,” he noted. “If the water level ever gets too low again, we’ll be sure to increase the outflow.
“[Emo’s] water supply will continue to be our main concern,” he stressed.
Keith Paterson, operator at the Emo Water Treatment Plant, also was confident the community need not worry about its water supply.
“We’ve got lots of water. It varies, by an inch or two either way, on a day-to-day basis,” he noted yesterday.
“The levels continue to be low but everything is going fine,” said Paterson, stressing there was no need for alarm.