Northern Saskatchewan Summer High Water Update – August 4, 2020
Rainfall
Northern Saskatchewan has received extremely high cumulative precipitation since April 1, 2020, resulting in very high flows and lake levels across the Churchill River and Lower Saskatchewan River basins. Much of this rainfall has come in the months of June and July.
Fortunately, rainfall over the past week has been minimal, particularly over the Churchill River and Lower Saskatchewan River basins where accumulations ranged from 0-10 mm.

Flows and Lake Levels:
High river and lake levels can be expected for the remainder of summer and in some cases, such as the mainstem of the Churchill River, into the fall and winter. In most areas flows and water levels are expected to peak, or have peaked, slightly lower than previous historical highs. However, flows and levels in the Lower Churchill River, including Reindeer River and Churchill River near Sandy Bay, have exceed previous historical highs.
Below are specific conditions at various locations as well as projected future peak levels.
Ile a la Crosse:
Present elevation: 421.08 m


It appears as if levels at Lac Ile a la Crosse are at peak; however, they are expected to remain high for some time resulting in a risk of wind and wave action resulting in short-term higher levels.
Lac La Ronge:
Current elevation: 364.93 m
Projected peak: 364.96 m on or near August 19, 2020
With minimal precipitation throughout the basin over the past week, inflows appear to have peaked late last week and lake level rises are also slowing in response. Our current forecast has the lake peaking at the same elevation as the 2011 peak. If conditions remain dry, the lake level will track in the lower portion of the confidence band shown on the hydrograph.


Sandy Bay
Present Elevation: 10.13 m (2400 m3/s)
Forecasted peak: 10.15 m (2420 m3/s) on or near August 4
SaskPower has begun to reduce outflows at the Whitesand Dam. This reduction will offset some of the higher flows arriving from further upstream. It expected that water levels will crest at Sandy Bay today but remain near peak for several days.


Meeting Lake
- Spiritwood station received 1only trace amounts of precipitation over the past 10 days.
- Spiritwood has recorded 247 mm of Precipitation since April 1, 2020
- July 29, 2020, lake level is 739.48 m, which is unchanged from July 22.
- A current elevation is not available, but it is expected that outflow and evaporation since the last observation has only resulted in a small reduction in the elevation.
- Outlet spill elevation is 739.23 m (25 cm lower than current lake level)
- Meeting Lake has reached its outlet and is confirmed flowing into outlet channel
- There is not significant flow moving through outlet currently as it is congested with thick vegetation.
- Berms around the lake should now be built to WSA recommended standard (739.83-740 m)


Cumberland House
Cumberland Lake has peaked and is receding. Forecasted levels for Cumberland Lake are part of WSA’s 10-Day Saskatchewan River Forecasts which can be found here: https://www.wsask.ca/Lakes-Rivers/Provincial/
Jan, Amisk, and Deschambault Lakes
- While we do not have any up to date information for these lakes, they are expected to be near peak, likely close to 2017 levels.
Future Rainfall
Aside from some scattered showers over western areas of the north today that may result in accumulations of 5 mm, there is minimal precipitation expected over the work week. There is however heavier precipitation forecasted for the weekend for northwestern areas, including western portions of the Churchill River Basin. Current forecasts suggest 30-50 mm is possible. This is something WSA will monitor as forecasts evolve.