The stabilization of water levels

This is to provide you with an update to the water stabilization issue which the Executive Committee of the Association has been following closely since last August. In October 2011, the Director General of the Centre d’expertise hydrique du Québec (Mr. Yves Gosselin) replied to our letter which contained the resolution which we adopted at our annual meeting in August. If you recall, the resolution stated:

That the property owners of the dam at Lac 31 Milles (le Centre d'expertise hydrique du Québec) be requested :

1 - to cease flooding Grand Lac Rond (Roddick) in February-March and in September of each year;

2 - to cease retaining large quantities of water on Lac 31 Milles in the period from mid-May to late August to the detriment of the downstream watershed; and

3 - to develop a realistic plan for the stablization of water levels on Lac 31 Milles so that its environmental effect on the shoreline of Grand Lac Rond (Roddick) is mitigated.

Among other things, in his response, Mr. Gosselin said that the Centre would undertake an analysis of the effect of the dam on the water levels on our lake. Not having received any update since October, I sent another letter to Mr. Gosselin asking that this analysis start in the spring of 2012 and that a member of the Association be included in the workgroup. This letter was accompanied with an extensive study that Michael Lukyniuk completed on the instability of water levels on Grand Lac Rond (dated February 2012) in which it is made abundantly clear that the operation of the dam at Lac des 31 Milles is a source of danger to the health and safety of our shoreline residents, not to mention the many other negative impacts on the environment, ecology and water quality of Grand Lac Rond.

If you are interested in reading the new report and the second letter I sent to Mr. Gosselin, please click here for the report and here for the letter.

In future, I propose to keep you informed of any other developments concerning this important dossier. If you have comments or suggestions, please feel free to share them with us.