Low Water Conditions ended in Upper Thames River watershed (media release, November 4, 2022)

The Level 1 Low Water conditions that have been in effect for the Upper Thames River watershed since mid-July have ended, according to the local Low Water Response Team. Low water advisories are part of a three-tiered system used in Ontario to inform the public of local low water conditions.

“We evaluate low water conditions by looking at several indicators, including precipitation and stream flows,” said Mark Helsten, Senior Water Resources Engineer with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA).

After very dry weather in the late spring and summer, recent rains have brought the long-term average precipitation back to near normal across the watershed.

Stream flows in most locations are also relatively normal for this time of year, except for the Middle Thames River and the North Thames River downstream from Mitchell, which are both experiencing lower flows than normal.

The UTRCA maintains three large reservoirs and several smaller ones across the watershed. The large reservoirs at Pittock (Woodstock) and Wildwood (St. Marys) Conservation Areas  provide flow augmentation in the summer, by storing spring runoff and then slowly release this water back into the river system in the dry summer months and early fall. Both reservoirs are continuing to augment downstream flows in the North and South Thames Rivers and are expected to reach winter levels in November.

Contact: Eleanor Heagy, Coordinator, Communications and Marketing