Below is an update to the planned outage of the Norman and Kenora Powerhouses, originally posted on March 23.
On Wednesday, March 30 (one day earlier than previous noted), Hydro One will be conducting a full day outage that will result in temporary disconnection of the Norman Generating Station and Kenora Generating Station from the grid. During the outage, neither facility will be able to pass flow through turbines and this will result in a temporary drop in the level of the Winnipeg River near Kenora. To limit the effect of the outage on river levels, the LWCB has directed the dam operators to add flow through the log sluices at the Norman Dam (currently all log sluices are fully closed).
River levels will fluctuate before, during and after the outage as dam operations are adjusted and this may cause the ice on the river to shift. The LWCB recommends taking precautions when on or near the Winnipeg River between March 29 and March 31.
Minor fluctuations in the river level are expected the day before and the day after the outage as flow is adjusted between the Norman powerhouse and the log sluices.
On March 30, river levels are expected to decrease as follows.
Below the Norman Dam: 15- 17 cm (6-7 in)
Above Kimberly Rapids: 12-13 cm (5 in)
Winnipeg River Marina: 10 (4 in)
Near Locke Bay and Above Myrtle Rapids: 10 cm (4 in)
Above the Dalles and Throat Rapids: 8 cm (3 in)
Minaki: no change
Following the outage at the end of the afternoon on March 30, flow will return to the authorized rate of 425 m³/s and the river will rise back to the pre-outage level range.