Expect similar issues as those from the last few years along the Lake Erie shoreline in Chatham-Kent this spring, an official with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority has said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released its water level projections for the Great Lakes, which showed Lake Erie could see record high levels after winter.
Jason Wintermute, water management supervisor with the conservation authority, noted the record high level is within a range of probability, but the most likely scenario is not a record high.
However, those predictions are “very similar” to what has been seen in the last few years, which have also been close to record highs, he said.
“We would expect the same kinds of conditions on the lake – Erie Shore Drive, Wheatley, those areas – that we’ve had the last two years, so potential for flooding on Erie Shore Drive, high erosion on the shoreline (and) erosion on the bluff,” said Wintermute.
The western part of Elgin County, which is under LTVCA jurisdiction, has also experienced erosion of its shoreline bluff, he said.
The record high lake level could happen this spring “if a couple things line up,” he said, including less evaporation and a very warm and wet spring.
Lake Erie has already been within 15 centimetres of record high levels this year, said Wintermute, and if waves at two metres high hit the shoreline, that difference doesn’t matter.
Wintermute said he thinks homeowners along the shoreline should be able to know what to expect this year based on what they’ve been through in previous years. He advises landowners to check the shoreline protections in place as the winter weather leaves.
“Sometimes over the winter, the ice will grab onto the shoreline protection works,” he said. “As the ice expands, it can shift rocks or it can damage the shoreline protection work.”
If there is a rainy spring, the water levels will rise, so it is important to check the protection work ahead of time, he said.
“The shoreline residents of Chatham-Kent have been living with this and while those forecasts say we can hit those record highs, we’ve been awfully close to those record highs already the last few years,” said Wintermute.
from Chatham Daily News http://bit.ly/2GIwFHv
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