Watershed Conditions Statements
January 19, 2017
Drought Condition Downgraded to Minor
The drought status in the Rideau River watershed is being downgraded to “Minor” because the recent warm temperatures and precipitation have caused flows to increase significantly in watershed streams.Rain and snowmelt have caused flows in some streams to approach and, in some cases, exceed the long-term historical average flows. Kemptville Creek had low flows of .028 cubic metres per second (cms), 1.5% of average, in mid-October. Occasional thaws with rain since then have caused flows to increase in all streams and fluctuate around the average. Kemptville Creek flows have been consistently elevated since December 27 and reached three times the…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
December 15, 2016
Drought Condition Downgraded to Moderate
The drought status in the Rideau River watershed is being downgraded to “Moderate” because recent precipitation has generally increased flows in area streams. Kemptville Creek flows are about 130% of the historical average, or normal, for the time of year as a result of October rain and November snowmelt. Other recorded streamflows are above 60% of normal which has led to the downgrade of the drought status. However, the Tay River out of Bobs Lake has not had the same precipitation and is at only 10% of the normal flow. This indicates that the drought is not fully over despite…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
October 05, 2016
Erratic Rains means “Severe” Drought Condition Continues
The drought status in the Rideau River watershed remains at “Severe” because sustained flows in the streams and rivers have not been restored. As has been the case all summer, rainfall has been very erratic with significant amounts recorded at some monitoring stations and very little at others. There has been enough rain in the last two weeks to make many watershed residents forget that there is still a drought. Lawns are green. Farm crops are close to being ready for harvest.
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Watershed Conditions Statements
September 16, 2016
“Severe” Drought Condition Continued
Recent heavy but localized rain was not sufficient to change the drought status in the Rideau River watershed from “Severe.” Streamflows and lake levels continue to decline throughout the watershed. At the climate station at Kemptville, 44 millimetres of rain was recorded on September 10. Both Smiths Falls and Rideau Ferry received 26 but all of 2 mm was recorded at the station at Innisville east of Perth. Where the heavier rainfall occurred, levels increased but they quickly fell back to where they had been.
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Watershed Conditions Statements
September 06, 2016
Rideau Watershed still in “Severe” Drought Condition
Sporadic and random rainfall over the last week was not enough to bring the Rideau River watershed out of the Severe Drought status reached in mid-August Previous rain in August did cause flows and levels to increase but only for a brief period. With rain coming in small cells that affected very limited areas, levels have quickly declined again. Forecast for this week has a total of 20 millimetres possible that will not have a significant impact.
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Watershed Conditions Statements
August 22, 2016
Despite Rain, “Severe” Drought Condition Status Continued
Despite the recent rainfall, the Rideau Valley remains in a Severe Drought Status. The 90-day accumulation of rainfall recorded at Environment Canada climate stations in and around the Rideau River watershed has increased to an average of 82 percent of the historical average. The 30-day accumulation is about 99 percent.
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Watershed Conditions Statements
