| Jun 01, 2016


A dry start for the summer of '16

Central Frontenac Township declared a total fire ban late on Monday, May 30, joining with Tay Valley and Lanark Highlands townships in Lanark County in telling residents to refrain from all outdoor burning for the time being.

While Lanark County sets out county-wide fire bans, it is up to the individual townships in Frontenac and Lennox and Addington to declare fire bans.

North Frontenac and Addington Highlands, who make a joint decision, had not declared a ban as of Tuesday, and burning was also still being permitted in South Frontenac.

North Frontenac Fire Chief Eric Korhonen said on Monday that even through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MNRF) fire index is listed as “extreme”, the township was holding off on declaring a fire ban, hoping that rain that is expected later in the week will alleviate the situation.

“We look at all of the data that is available to us, including the scientific data gathered by the MNRF before making any decision. In our case there are two fire chiefs involved, myself and Chief Cuddy from Addington Highlands since we operate the Kaladar-Barrie service together,” said Korhonen. “If the rain comes later in the week we might be able to hold off.”

South Frontenac Fire Chief Rick Cheseborough is also holding off on declaring a fire ban.

“We have been fortunate so far in avoiding brush fires, although there have been a few calls. We are hoping that the rain will come later this week to alleviate the problem. But so far we are keeping the ban off, as are others such as Napanee,” he said on Tuesday morning, May 31.

The City of Kingston has also not put a fire ban in place.

The situation in all the municipalities could change rapidly, however, so it is advisable to contact the local municipality before burning, as it is the residents’ responsibility to be aware of fire restrictions. If brush fires develop, local municipalities have the option of billing property owners for the cost of putting the fire out.

The conservation authorities in the region have also expressed concerns about the potential effect of low water levels on the boating and fishing seasons that are just getting underway.

The Cataraqui, Rideau Valley, and Mississippi Valley Conservation Authorities have all issued minor drought declarations in recent days.

“We’ve seen less than 50 per cent of the normal amount of rainfall over April and May, and stream flows are at approximately 25 per cent of average flows for this time of year, and already near summer low flows,” said Water Resources Engineer, Sean Watt of the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) in a press release on May 26.

CRCA also said that lake levels are currently around normal for this time of year, but are concerned that with the forecast of a warmer summer a lack of rainfall would cause lake levels to fall, causing potential problems with navigation, water intakes, and moorings.

On a more hopeful note, the CRCA said that “the current long-term forecast is for an average amount of precipitation and, if that occurs, stream flows and lake levels should also remain close to normal.”

The CRCA regulates water in much of South Frontenac.

On May 24, before the latest heat wave, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority said the watershed is “on the verge of minor drought conditions”.

They said that “stream flows in unregulated watercourses are about half of normal for the time of year and lake levels are declining.”

While the Rideau Canal system remained at full navigation level at that time, the RVCA was concerned that deepening drought conditions might lead to exposed shoals on lakes within the system. Lakes at the upper level of the Rideau system, such as Bobs Lake, are reservoirs for the canal system through the operation of the Bolingbroke dam.

The RVCA regulates water in parts of Central and South Frontenac.

The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) also issued a release on May 26. “Most of the upper lakes in the watershed are at or slightly above their summer target levels but evaporation could also become a significant concern for those areas if current conditions persist,” the MVCA said.

“A significant rainfall over a large portion of the watershed will be required to return the watershed to normal conditions,” they added.

The MVCA regulates water in parts of North and Central Frontenac.

Quinte Region Conservation, which regulates water at the western edge of North, Central, and South Frontenac, had not issued a release as of the beginning of this week, but their office indicated the same conditions apply in the Quinte watershed as in others in Eastern Ontario. They will be issuing a release later this week, once they have fully analyzed their month end data from May.

A “Minor” drought condition is the first of three levels and indicates only a concern. “Moderate” suggests a potentially serious problem. “Severe” indicates a failure of the water supply to meet demand.

Conservation authorities are also telling residents to begin conserving water now, as water shortages may affect well water levels later this summer.

Support local
independant journalism by becoming a patron of the Frontenac News.