OTTAWA -- The Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board has released its final spring freshet forecast, which predicts a steady decrease in levels.
"Spring runoff in the northern portion of the basin is slowly receding and filling principal reservoirs in those regions. In Mattawa levels and flows should remain fairly stable over the weekend," the board said in its forecast. "Flows and levels along the Ottawa River from Pembroke to Lac Deschenes are starting to decrease. Between Gatineau (Hull) and the Montreal region, levels and flows have stabilized and are expected to start decreasing into the weekend."
The board says the trend for the entire length of the Ottawa River is a steady decrease in levels as what's left of the spring runoff recedes.
At this time last year, the Ottawa River was experiencing record-setting floods for the second time in two years.
Municipalities along the river were declaring states of emergency, and thousands of volunteers came out to help fill more than a million sandbags.
According to the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board, the water level at Lac Deschenes is more than a meter below where it was this time last year.
