MONTREAL - The lake’s loss has been the lawn’s gain around the Lake of Two Mountains.
Low water levels have seen the lake retract, become shallower and create arid land where water usually sits.
“We've been taking records since 1963 and we've never seen levels this low,” said Ottawa River Regulation Secretariat representative Michael Sarich.
“Throughout the Ottawa river basin our precipitation is currently 20 percent of normal for this kind of late-spring, early-summer, so it has been this protracted drought that's led to these low levels,” he added.
The spring came early this year and there was not much snow to melt, as a result snow and ice didn't make its way into the lake.
Authorities have opened dams, as they do every summer, but no other measures have been taken to raise the water levels.
They are starting to consider making some sort of move, however, as the dry season of August-September is now upon us.
The water levels were also low last year and made boating very difficult, as boats had to watch out for rocks.
For boaters that are able to get into the water, they have other worries lurking below.
“We ran a regatta here last weekend and one fellow here, where there was supposed to be a lot of depth, hit two rocks,” said veteran boater Peter Miller.
It has made navigation very sticky, as established safe routes have become iffy.
“Coming in you have to be extremely cautious, slow down very slowly, its nerve-wracking,” said Miller.
Hudson Yacht Club Manager Chris Poulter said that the water levels are eight to 12 inches below chart datum, which translates into four to five feet lower than normal.
Experts believe that it would take several weeks of solid rain to get water levels back to normal, even after dams are opened.
