City, conservation authority monitoring high lake water levels

Both the city and the conservation authority are keeping a watchful eye on the city waterfront and shorelines as lake levels are once again creeping up in Lake Ontario.

The conservation authority, which issued a shoreline alert earlier this week, says water levels are 55 cm above average for this time of year.

"The levels are higher than normal," said Jonathan Bastien, who handles water resources engineering.

Things are still looking better than May of 2017, he said, when flooding ate up chunks of Hamilton's shoreline and caused hordes of wastewater headaches.

"We're keeping a close eye on it, but right now I don't have immediate concerns," Bastien said.

The city is also dealing with issues in different parts of the city. At the Waterfront Trail, crews are adding gravel and sandbags on the Cootes Paradise side to hold off any rising water levels.

"Given the high water levels, the sandbags are also meant to help us keep carp out of the Cootes Paradise side of the bay as well," said spokesperson Jasmine Graham in an email.

The city also says that high lake levels on Bayside Drive near Beach Boulevard are forcing homeowners to dump water from their basements onto the road. There is a contractor on site to pump that water off the road, the city says.

Then on the Beach Strip, crews are working to supplement sanitary pumps to keep a consistent flow for the city's sanitary system.

One place where the water is causing definite problems is sports fields. Graham said fields are soaked in locations across the city. That means maintenance has been delayed, which could impact opening dates.