The docks are in...

[OVERKILL]

Whoops....

We stopped storing our boats in our boathouse (this is NOT our boathouse) because of this. We are actually in the process of discussing, as a family, what we do to replace our now aged front dock/boathouse and had got a quote for about $270-280K for a new dock and boathouse. The consensus now is that we are going to eliminate the boathouse and just go with a larger multi-slip dock and build a 2nd cottage on the property because of the incredible amount of risk every spring with these insane water levels.

Is this only a Muskoka problem or are other locales having issues with insane spring water levels?

 

[02SE]

The western states are looking at record drought. Pump some of that water over here.

 

[tig1]

The southeast US needs rain badly.

 

[KGMtech]

My wife wants to open the cottage, in Magnetawan Ontario, next week. Big if. Checking with neighbours to see if hip waders are needed and more importantly, can we drive in?

 

[SC Maintenance]

So is this a somewhat regular event? Or an outsized rain?

 

[Kira]

I have no photo though I could draw a picture.
A retired elevator shaft worker built a lift on a pontoon boat he split in half.
Each side could've been double pontoons as there was a platform providing a walkway which would've been just that wide.
He made a pair of slings, fore and aft, as you'd expect.
However, the power for this was provided by a geared lift you cranked with a 5' diameter wheel.
The thing was mostly aluminum with some steel hardware. It would go up or down with the water level.

 

[4wd]

We got almost a week of rain in the Houston area - but the systems were moving fast enough to not cause issues like when they stall - or of course hurricane season - almost here again.
The roof was blown off my boat barn during Harvey.

 

[OVERKILL]

So is this a somewhat regular event? Or an outsized rain?

It has been a more frequent occurrence since Ontario Parks (IIRC) moved from locks and dams being managed locally to centralized control. The guys that used to control the water level understood the behaviour during freshet and would proactively dump water to prevent huge run-ups in the levels when the melt started. With central control, that's no longer done, and we've had a few years now where, with a strong freshet, coupled with some rain, that the water levels are absolutely insane, causing 10's of millions, if not 100's of millions in damage. There were antique boats that went through the upper floor of a boathouse and ended up on a lawn a either last time or the time before.

 

[PontiacHO]

That’s costly! Our genius team that monitors-controls our local lake levels allowed extreme amounts of water out of the dams to lower the water levels in anticipation of heavy winter rains. That didn’t happen and now in an extreme drought all the lakes are ruined to boaters (closed ramps, limited access from home owners on the water, and created unmarked hazards). Not to mention the spawning areas are gone. I often wonder (with my limited intelligence) why not release water as the need dictates. Not as a hunch that there may be heavy rain months in the future. Oh well, Season ruined this summer….

 

[Arc]

In north east Kentucky it's still really dry. My pond is six feet below its normal level. Last summer we went six months with zero rain at my house and my garden completely died. This year it's only rained a small amount.

 

[SC Maintenance]

That’s costly! Our genius team that monitors-controls our local lake levels allowed extreme amounts of water out of the dams to lower the water levels in anticipation of heavy winter rains. That didn’t happen and now in an extreme drought all the lakes are ruined to boaters (closed ramps, limited access from home owners on the water, and created unmarked hazards). Not to mention the spawning areas are gone. I often wonder (with my limited intelligence) why not release water as the need dictates. Not as a hunch that there may be heavy rain months in the future. Oh well, Season ruined this summer….

They don't wait because there is a lag on river stages. To give you the extreme case, it takes 90 days for water to flow from one end of the Mississippi to the other. So in your case, even if it takes a couple weeks that might be too long if you get a sudden heavy Southern rain.

There also might be downstream implications as well.

Not defending there decisions - just pointing out the thought process. In an extremely rare moment of clarity we saw fit to put the Army corps of engineers in charge of all navigable waterways, who also happen to be one of the extremely rare competent government organizations. I think they do a pretty good job. There issue is there always balancing too many conflicting requirements.

 

[PontiacHO]

I don’t disagree that the Army Corp of Engineers isn’t competent however the power company controlled reservoirs are under their control. Should have clarified. They took the level down to the maximum for the “just in case” heavy rain. They have meteorologists on staff. With today’s weather forecasting technology, they could release water as needed just prior to a weather front. Summer storms are quick and can dump several inches of rain however they’re never widespread enough to cause anything other than a quick overrun of water in a specific area. Not the entire river basin. Releasing water for worse case scenario months in advance is lazy work in my opinion…

 

[SC Maintenance]

I don’t disagree that the Army Corp of Engineers isn’t competent however the power company controlled reservoirs are under their control. Should have clarified. They took the level down to the maximum for the “just in case” heavy rain. They have meteorologists on staff. With today’s weather forecasting technology, they could release water as needed just prior to a weather front. Summer storms are quick and can dump several inches of rain however they’re never widespread enough to cause anything other than a quick overrun of water in a specific area. Not the entire river basin. Releasing water for worse case scenario months in advance is lazy work in my opinion…

Commercial reservoirs are one of the many conflicting demands.

I don't know where in the "south" your at but much of the South is in a "exceptional drought, which is fairly uncommon. I think the last one was around maybe 2010 ish or so? https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

 

[alarmguy]

Commercial reservoirs are one of the many conflicting demands.

I don't know where in the "south" your at but much of the South is in a "exceptional drought, which is fairly uncommon. I think the last one was around maybe 2010 ish or so? https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Yup, we are right there in the deep red. We were supposed to get rain earlier this week. I measured 1/4 inch on my rain gauge. I think the highest rainfall was (grabbing straws here) over a month ago of a half inch. Literally rain storms have passed us by to the south and the north by as little as 50 miles and nothing here. 100 miles They got even more rain and it is still dry in those areas just not by as much

It’s looking like tonight and Saturday we might get up to an inch of rain and quite honestly, if it happens, it won’t put a dent in our deficit. But who knows maybe we’ll get more if we get a good bunch of thunderstorms.

I would suggest that the map isn’t entirely correct because it covers such a wide geographic area.
A more local map I am positive would show our area as that deep maroon color you see in northern Florida and Georgia instead of just dark red. We haven’t even been able to have a thunderstorm yet this year.
We are in the coastal area of the North Carolina and South Carolina border

 

[Donald]

Glad my boat is on rack storage. Well most of the time I am glad.

 

[Danno]

My boss has a cottage on Lake Penage (Panache). He mentioned the flooding has damaged quite a few structures. Asked him if there was a dam controlling the water level. Yes, was the answer, and its going wide open was the comment. I didn't reply but imo, this infrastructure built for 50 year (guess on my part) snow loads needs to be rebuilt to accommodate 200 year weather events. Like we had this winter in our neighbourhood.
Pictures of a marina and the dam. The dam look to restrictive to me.

 

[RhondaHonda]

My wife’s parents have a lake house in WI, the water was up about 2 feet after all the rain they’ve had. It’s a bunch of connected lakes with small dams and the water was running around the sides on the dam.

The pier stays in year round but the water was high enough that it was floating the composite decking panels out of the frame. Can’t imagine it can go much higher and the house is not at risk.

Most people in their area pull the piers and lifts out each winter. It’s a lot of work for a relatively short boating season.

 

[PontiacHO]

Commercial reservoirs are one of the many conflicting demands.

I don't know where in the "south" your at but much of the South is in a "exceptional drought, which is fairly uncommon. I think the last one was around maybe 2010 ish or so? https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

North Carolina-“south”. If you’re alive you know we’re in a drought. The brain trusts that make the decision to lower lake levels had a premonition, feeling, vision, palm reading, hunch or a dream that there might be heavy winter rains. The lakes at the levels they are now aren’t just because of the drought conditions. The water was drained out beginning in early fall to a lower level than in years past. Yes a drought is happening but the lakes in our area are now in dangerous conditions (boating-fishing) because of poor decisions.