Issues

Water Levels

Who will the low water levels affect?

• Recreational boaters
• Marina operators
• Others who live and work along the shore

Positive affects of the low water level:

• Increased beach sizes,
• Reduced risk of flooding and shore line storm damage,
• Benefits marshlands and wetlands,
• Exposed mud flat will provide new feeding grounds for shore birds,
• Number of insects expected to increase which in turn will provide more food for fish and wildlife.

Message to boaters:

• Boaters are advised to use caution when operating in shallow waters. Exercise extreme caution when travelling unfamiliar waterways.
• Mariners must be aware of the draft of their vessels and have information and knowledge of the depth of water where they are going.
• Mariners should use caution when transiting areas that are not marked. They may have been able to traverse these sections previously, but due to lower water levels risk is higher.
• Use your navigation charts and refer to current water level information.
• There will be some buoyed channels that will have depths below 6' and that the effects of wave height and fetch will be exaggerated by the low water conditions. Chart depths as shown on CHS charts will have to be downwardly adjusted as levels drop below chart datum*.
• Mariners should make sure their navigation charts are up to date and pay close attention to them at all times.

* Datum - For navigational safety, depths on a chart are shown from a low-water surface or a low-water datum called chart datum. Chart datum is selected so that the water level will seldom fall below it and only rarely will there be less depth available than what is portrayed on the chart. In non-tidal waters, chart datum is set so that the water level will be above datum approximately 95% of the time.