Water Levels

[Tig]

How's your lake, pond, creek, river, well or dug out?
I'm on the Lake Ontario and we are a foot below average level.
Our water shed is at "level 3" low water levels. Although they have not officially declared "level 3" which would mean mandatory restrictions/shutdown for some businesses.
It's been a bad year for farmers. Apple blossomed early and then was hit by frost. Some of the local crops did not make it through this dry summer. I'm seeing some huge yellow areas in fields of what I think are soybeans.

 

[Bill 55]

My pond is about 1 1/2 ft low. I have not seen it this low since it was built in 1990. My spring has slowed some but still hasn't given any real problems. Corn is looking very bad, beans aren't even knee high. Haven't seen it this bad for several years.

 

[Pete Judd]

Great here, all 3 creeks are flowing, all spring feed from the hill behind me. The pond is full, and am adding a pump to water next years garden.

 

[PoorPlowboy]

My pond was 6ft low as of yesterday. Isaac is trying to help it but we won't know for a couple more days.

 

[dave1949]

My 1/2 acre pond that is filled from rain run-off mostly, no spring, is down about 4-5 feet. That seems about normal for that pond. It refills with the fall rains.

The beaver pond is down 4' and that is more than normal, it is fed by small stream that gathers water from a very large drainage area. That stream is dry now.

My tiny pond is in a wooded wetland area, it is down about 1 foot. That spot must always have water because there was a small hand-dug livestock watering pond/tank there from many years ago that I had dug out and enlarged a bit. Only allowed 1/10 acre in a wooded wet land.

Apple trees here had a poor blossom set and probably poor pollination since the temperature was yo-yoing, three over 80* days in March is just nuts. Blackberries didn't get enough rain when they needed it, they are so-so.

There are frogs all over the place this year. Garter snakes more than usual too. I think the turkey hatch was good, but haven't seen grouse chicks. The grouse were drumming fools this year. The coyotes have been more active in the early and late daylight hours than normal. Haven't seen a moose or fresh sign since early spring.

 

[KPark]

We have a shallow pond (natural, not built) in the woods which is about 1 1/2' to 2' deep. It is fed from runoff from the mountainside and from runoff from a shallow swamp in a swale uphill from it. It is dry for the first time since I noticed it 18 years ago.

 

[TripleR]

All of eight of our lakes/ponds are 4'-5' low, none are spring fed, a lot of wells are going dry.

 

[tcartwri]

A lot of wells going dry in NE Ontario. Water trucks are busy.

I dug a couple of post holes to 50" this spring, and there was NO ground water. Normally I would be stuffing the post in the minute the auger came out. That has now been followed by three months of no rain. Crops are absolutely ruined here.

 

[cqaigy2]

Water levels are normal here.

 

[Baby Grand]

Our frog pond is about 8 to 10 inches below the spillway level.

 

[TripleR]

A lot of wells going dry in NE Ontario. Water trucks are busy.

I dug a couple of post holes to 50" this spring, and there was NO ground water. Normally I would be stuffing the post in the minute the auger came out. That has now been followed by three months of no rain. Crops are absolutely ruined here.

The only crops doing well this year are those who irrigate. I have never seen it this bad.

 

[dave1949]

Never thought of this drought-related effect.

US homes cracking from drought-parched soil | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

 

[Car Doc]

Its bad and next year it will be clear just how bad it was we are not seeing the whole picture yet.

 

[PoorPlowboy]

Water levels are normal here.

Water levels are always normal in WA! DEEP! :laughing:

 

[SPIKER]

I been at my place 12 yrs now, this is the 2nd time the creek dried up, the first time there were still springs keeping pools open for the frogs, this year is similar frog pools the benefit is I can scoop up 100 yards of gravel if I wanted... Dont need it so not wasting the fuel, the last time we cut/broke out some large sandstone slabs out of the bottom that was scoured to bedrock after pulling a few yards of loos gravel off the top. made up a couple small patios

love the natural root trails in the rocks, holding up pretty good other than the green algae on them &a bit of freeze thaw cracking....

BTW those BBQ pit block are the BIG ones (6h x8w x 16 long) menards sells & dont like the heat at all. that have to re-build...

 

[dave1949]

Maybe you could rebuild with a simple dry-stacked fire brick lining. Concrete hates fire. Natural stone is bad enough and can throw "shrapnel" when it breaks from heat expansion.

 

[creekbend]

Our area has had above average rainfall this year. "Knock on Wood". Last year it was very dry and not much precipitation was recorded for several months. I feel sorry for the Farmers in the drought stricken regions.

 

[cqaigy2]

Water levels are always normal in WA! DEEP! :laughing:

LOL yup thats normal.

 

[Tig]

Looking at historical data I'm surprised that we are not breaking records. I've been around this shore my entire life and things look low to me.
On the up side, I've been waiting for an opportunity to re-set my boat life in the river. Typically it's awkward even during low water, stirring up the bottom, mucking around with the posts that I set down on bedrock. This year will be different. At this rate I may be able to do this in my sneakers in late October.