Continued high lake water levels have prompted the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) to extend a flood watch.
The flood watch issued by ERCA covers all Windsor-Essex shorelines, plus Pelee Island, and affects the Detroit River, Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and any of their tributaries. It is now in effect through August 4.
"Water levels for Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie remain near the all-time record highs set in 2019," said James Bryant, ERCA water resource manager. "Preliminary information indicates that Lake St. Clair surpassed last year's monthly average record for the month of June, while Lake Erie fell just shy of last year's record of 175.14 metres."
Bryant said current projections show that with average water flow, both Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair could see a slight drop in water levels. However, both bodies of water remain well above the long-term averages by 83 centimetres for Lake St. Clair, and 75 centimetres for Lake Erie.
"High lake levels continue to cause downstream reaches of major tributaries to remain elevated," said Bryant. "With tributaries full of lake water, it reduces their capacity to handle rainfall and has the potential to cause local rivers, creeks and streams to swell and potentially spill into low-lying areas under more frequent rainfall events than normal. This can sometimes occur abruptly as we move through the summer months where pop-up thunderstorms become more common for the Windsor-Essex area."
ERCA said it will continuously monitor weather conditions and advise accordingly.
