Natural cycle behind dropping Lake Winnipeg water levels

The Rural Municipality of Gimli is warning boaters to be extra careful on Lake Winnipeg this summer with lake levels more than two feet lower than they were this time last summer.

But Gimli mayor Randy Woroniuk says the drop is nothing to be concerned about.

"In the last couple of years there's been a dry cycle, a bit of a drought, in Western Canada and also in the United States, where Lake Winnipeg gets her water from," he said Saturday.

"With the lack of snowpack in the west and in the south and locally, this was to be expected."

Numbers from Manitoba Hydro show the lake has dropped from 715.53 feet last July to 713.1 feet this month.

Levels were at 714 feet last September and Hydro forecasts they'll continue to drop to 712.9 feet by the end of August.

Beaches still busy

Woroniuk says the lower levels haven't kept visitors from the lakeside Manitoba community, about 85 kilometres north of Winnipeg, this summer.

But he is concerned for boaters who are accustomed to the previous levels.

"Boaters were used to going down a certain path on the lake, and they were fairly certain there wouldn't be a reef there," he said.

"Well now with the water down, the reefs are there and boaters just have to be a little more cautious."

Woroniuk says lake levels go up and down in cycles and the previous wet cycle lasted 20 years.

But with the effects of climate change added into the mix, he says predicting how long this dry cycle will last is difficult.

"From the research I've read, scientists are saying with climate change, we're going to experience severe droughts with severe rain storms so who can tell," he said.

"It's just something we have to adapt to."