Stratford's Lake Victoria is draining quickly as crews work to remove dam blockage

Lake Victoria in downtown Stratford, Ont., has been draining since a dam designed to prevent flooding was stuck open by debris during a storm last week, letting water flow down into the Avon River.

During a heavy rain storm on Thursday, July 24, the RT Orr Dam automatically opened to prevent flooding of  buildings and roads upstream, but became stuck open shortly after. Debris was caught underneath and has been holding a gate open since, said the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. 

"We noticed on Friday that the water was a little bit lower than what it normally would be especially after it rained a lot on Thursday," said Kelan Herr, co-owner of The Boathouse.

The Boathouse, located right on the lake beside the dam, attracts tourists with their river-side restaurant patio, and boat and bike rentals. Herr and his family have operated the business for about 60 years, and he's never seen the water level this low in the summer, he said.

As a result of the water draining, they have had to cancel all of their kayak, canoe and pedal boat rentals since the dam became stuck. 

Herr said their business has a good relationship with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), who they called to report the lowering water level. Crews were on-site Monday, he said, and have been working to resolve the issue since. 

The reservoir will begin to refill once the gate is closed, the UTRCA said in the statement, but how long that takes will depend on the amount of rain. 

As of Monday afternoon, the water from the lake is being drawn down into the river at about an inch per hour as the crews try to remove the blockage, said Emily Chandler, a UTRCA spokesperson.

"If we're not able to do that, then we expect the water levels will go to the low-winter levels, which is quite low," she said. 

Attempting to flush out the debris is a delicate balancing act, Chandler explained. If they open the dam too much, the water will flood too quickly into the river below, threatening the aquatic wildlife that lives there. Currently, staff are trying to open it just enough so that pressure from the water upstream will push the debris out.

 "Regardless of how low the water levels have to go to be able to close the dam, we're hoping that we do get significant precipitation to build that reservoir back up."

As for the debris itself, the UTRCA cannot say for sure what it is until it's been removed, but are assuming it is a large branch or accumulation of branches that fell during the storm, Chandler said.

In the meantime, businesses like The Boathouse are hopeful that things will return to normal as soon as possible. About 40 per cent of their boat rental business comes in the month of August, especially the upcoming long weekend, said Herr.

As much as he wants to see the debris removed, he understands the difficult situation authorities are dealing with, he said. 

"There's a lot of other factors at play that are outside of my scope that they have to navigate," he said. "But they've been great in providing us with information, letting us know and then listening to our feedback and points of view.

"Today we see a lot of locals coming down and having food from us, local businesses coming down to help and tourists coming down to have lunch with us," he added. "So we're very grateful."