Following a winter with little snow run-off into Rainy Lake, those depending on the lake and river may be in trouble if April showers don’t start happening here soon.
“It all depends on the rain we get in the next few months,” said Gary Rogozinski, environmental director at the Abitibi-Consolidated mill here.
“If we don’t get our normal spring rain, or any late snowfall, we could have a drought by summer,” he warned. “And if there’s no water, and we can’t generate power, nobody’s happy.”
While Rainy Lake is at a higher than this time last year, that’s because the mill was ordered several weeks ago by the International Joint Commission to change the outflow through the dam to operate at the higher end of the rule curve.
But while levels are fine here, Rogozinski noted that meant less water flowing westward down the river. “There’s a balance between the lake and river, and that’s something we always have to keep in mind,” he said.
Ecologist Jennifer Mercer, who’s in charge of the Rainy River First Nation’s watershed project, agreed. More or less.
“The dam operators will have a difficult time trying to meet the needs of various bodies of water,” she admitted.
“If [the lake] becomes as low as they say it might be, that’s lower water intake for our hatchery and for our fish. It’s called losing the ‘lateral zone’ when you have shallow water at the edge of the river,” added Mercer.
This reduction in depth, up to .5 m during March, is a loss of habitat, leaving less room to spawn, and less to room for young fish to move or hide when predators attack, she remarked.
What concerns Mercer most is the fact that dangerously low water levels will have a slow cumulative effect.
“We won’t see the impact this year. But in a few years, when the surviving fish become game fish, there will be a reduction in walleye and sturgeon as species,” she said.
“We are an extremely important spawning ground. The MNR has done studies that found if you see a sturgeon in Lake of the Woods, it came from here,” Mercer stressed.
Reef Point resident Art Scheirer thinks the rule curve should be more flexible.
“Every spring, we go through the same damn thing. When there’s snow, the curve works fine. But there’s no snow,” he argued.
Scheirer noted problems lakeside residents face because of low water include frozen water lines, “dry dock,” and a sense of worry that levels will get lower.
“The mill should back off in the spring. Give us a little more water,” he said, adding changes to curve made on Jan. 1 only make for an inch or so difference than before.
“It does bug people. I know it’s hard, and I’m not asking to have the water exactly 24 inches below my dock,” said the former guide of more than 30 years.
“I’m just asking for them to make temporary adjustments. Curves can be adjusted just like you adjust your life. If you have high cholesterol in your blood, get healthy,” he added.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
