The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority says Lake Erie could have record high lake levels this year.
Jason Wintermute, water management supervisor for the LTVCA, says the lake is very close to those high levels now. Wintermute says Lake Erie is about 15 cm away from the 1986 record.
"We are awfully close already. Whether we can reach that point, it's certainly possible especially with some wind pushing waves and raising water levels in the west of Lake Erie. So, it is possible," says Wintermute.
The record of around 175 m was set in April of 1986.
Wintermute warns boaters that rocks that were once above water may now be entirely submerged and some docks may also be submerged as a result of high lake levels this year.
He also warns shoreline property owners to prepare their properties for rising water and be careful around the shoreline.
Wintermute says the entire shoreline is under threat of erosion and flooding, but some other areas are also threatened.
"There are some areas down by Wheatley that are low lying adjacent to the shoreline that have been affected. Rose Beach Line on the other side of Rondeau Provincial Park just to the east, that area has been affected by erosion in the past," Wintermute says.
Wintermute says even the high bluffs along Chatham-Kent are at risk of erosion.
"Many of those areas had a beach in front of them that protected the toe of the bluff from the eroding action of the waves. But those beaches have been submerged and in places the waves have been acting on the face of the bluff. So, even the bluff can be endangered in certain areas," says Wintermute.
