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It has happened again. In 2012 when we had a larger amount snow in the winter than normal and spring rain, the lake levels rose 3 feet. Millions of dollars damage to boat houses and contents. They should have been able to control the levels this year and didn't. With the levels 1 to 2 feet over the docks and the ice still in, the ice shift destroyed boathouses and their contents. It would have been easy to slowly lower the lake levels late fall. They couldn't do it this spring because the rivers cannot contain the surplus volume of water, so everyone is in water trouble. People's boats making large wakes are not helping the situation. The wake causes more damage. People who left the drain plug out of the stored boat while it was blocked up may have saved the boat. The water went in the boat and water weight in the boat held it down rather than floating and getting displaced. Ones that floated hit the roof or in some cases went thru the side of the boathouse.

we didn't get any snow this year compared to others and haven't had much rain.. where is all the water coming from? swift energy or whoever swift energy paid is destroying muskoka as we know it...

even rousseau is way above normal the docks surrounding the island in port carling are under water.. i've never seen it this high..seems very dangerous.

http://savethebalafalls.com/ Become a member help save muskoka..

Other than mismanagement there cannot be any reason. Lake Joe is also high. Most cottagers do not know about the high water. With less snow and less rain they would not think there is high water. Most do not check until May 24th. Some American cottagers in our area do not go to their cottage until July.

6ML is also 8-10" above usual Spring run off rise, fed by Severn River at Big Chute, dumps back into Severn below Chute into Gloucester Pool.
Port Severn lock/dam was running huge volume last weekend into GBay.
Despite all the Lawyers, Millionaires, Billionaires(eg: O'Leary, Rogers, Thompson, etc...) on Big 3, i'll bet they are toothless against MNR.
Also, most insurance policies do not cover over water boat houses.
Will be a great year for local contractors:)...hmm, conspiracy?

Boomer, this has NOTHING to do with Swift Energy.
It has everything to do with MNR incompetence and under staffing.
We may have seen signifigantly less snow then normal in the immediate area however the northern part of our watershed got plenty. We also did get a signifigant amount of rain, almost 2" in just over 24 hrs. This rain fell onto either frozen or saturated ground. As a result all that water went straight into the lakes and rivers and pushed water levels way up.
The unfortunate reality is that over the last 10 years or so the bulk of the MNR's staff that had REAL knowledge and practical experience in the field (and by field I mean bush) have either retired or been pushed out in favour of younger (cheaper) staff. These newbies lack the experience and most importantly, common sense of the old farts.
Most of the old staffers came from a background of hunting, fishing, logging and trapping. They knew the bush and spent time there on a regular basis. What they lacked in formal education they more then made up for in experience.
The current staff lack the experience and the common sense.
The individual that is resposible for monitering and regulating (or at least was last year) the water level in our lake is a total asshat. The lake has been consistently high for the last 4 years yet when questioned her response is "it's within normal parameters". The water level is high, the water quality is low (due to lack of turnover) and there's fish spawning on my lawn because the water is to deep where they usually spawn.
My suggestion to all who are affected and pissed off.....call Norm (provincial) & Tony (federal) and bitch!
If any would like to contact the MNR let me know, I've got the direct line & cell number for the individual responsible for managing the water levels, at least down this way.

im pissed off here... i won't be able to drive my boat now in fear of running over a submerged boat house floating in the middle of the lake..

I feel your pain.....
Put the Newphie in last weekend and went for a cruise. There are floating docks that pulled up their anchors when the water went up, phucked off and are now resting wherever their anchors found the bottom again......in the middle of the lake!!....not to mention all the other shit that floats just at the surface. Logs, lumber & tin boats....it's all out there.
For those that know my place, the stone patio was under 30+" of water.
The stupid part is that the water level had been moderately high for 3-4 weeks prior and no effort was made to start bringing it down to allow for the melting of the remaining snow pack or any heavy spring rains.

Our lake which is not controlled was up 18-20" over its normal spring peak. There was a lot of water in the system this year.

Exactly....we didn't get piles of snow but it did rain over the course of the winter which saturated the ground and froze. All the accumulated moisture was there.
Big problem is that the junior dill holes at the MNR can't figure that out. As a result our docks are under water and there's fish phuckin in my yard!!

Don't worry some jack ass from the MNR will be by to study the fish porn going on in your front yard