The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.11 m (1060.1 ft), a 55^th percentile level, in the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 13 cm (4 in) over the last week and is expected to decrease by 6 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in), over the next week.

Over the last week, dam operators did no accurately estimate outflow at the outlet of Lake of the Woods. As a result, additional outflow reductions are required to achieved an authorized outflow of 875 m³/s by Saturday, August 17^th as planned. Lake of the Woods outflow will decrease by approximately:

• 100 m³/s on Wednesday, August 14^th
• 93 m³/s on Friday, August 16^th

If conditions remain dry, similar outflow reductions will be required the following week to slow the rate of lake level decline. The scheduled outflow reductions will cause levels along the Winnipeg River to decline as follows:

• Directly downstream of the Norman Dam: 30 cm (12 in) with each outflow reduction, 53 cm (21 in) total drop by August 17^th
• Above the Dalles: 23 cm (9 in) with each outflow reduction, 40 cm (16 in) total drop by August 17^th
• Minaki: 20 cm (8 in) with each outflow reduction, 34 cm (13 in) total drop by August 17^th

The northern portions of the Winnipeg River basin are receiving moderate precipitation this week which will help maintain levels and flows. In the southern half of the basin, precipitation has been low and forecasts for next week are very dry. Inflow to Lake of the Woods is therefore declining rapidly and the lake level has also started to drop. To maintain a gradual decline in lake level, outflow reductions at Lake of the Woods are required, as long as conditions remain dry.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.20 m (1060.4 ft), an 80^th percentile level, above the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 8 cm (3 in) over the last week and is expected to decrease by 6 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in), over the next week. Lake of the Woods authorized outflow will decrease to:

• 975 m³/s on Thursday, August 8^th
• 925 m³/s on Monday, August 12^th
• 875 m³/s on Thursday, August 15^th

If conditions remain dry, similar outflow reductions will be required the following week to slow the rate of lake level decline. The scheduled outflow reductions will cause levels along the Winnipeg River to decline as follows:

• Directly downstream of the Norman Dam: 15 cm (6 in) with each outflow reduction, 52 cm (20 in) total drop by August 16^th
• Above the Dalles: 11 cm (4 in) with each outflow reduction, 38 cm (15 in) total drop by August 16^th
• Minaki: 10 cm (4 in) with each outflow reduction, 33 cm (13 in) total drop by August 16^th

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.36 m (1169.2 ft), a 30^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 2 cm (1 in) over the past week and is expected to decrease by 2 to 4 cm (0.5 to 1.5 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 350 m³/s with no changes scheduled.

Levels have been steadily declining on Lake of the Woods for more than a week and are expected to continue declining with decreasing flows on the Rainy River upstream. The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.24 m (1060.5 ft), an 85^th percentile level, above the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 6 cm (2 in) over the last week and is expected to decrease by 3 to 6 cm (1 to 2 in), over the next week. Lake of the Woods authorized outflow will decrease to 975 m³/s on Thursday, August 8^th. Depending on precipitation, additional outflow reductions may be required next week.  

This outflow reduction will cause levels along the Winnipeg River to decline by approximately 22 cm (8.5 in) directly downstream of the Norman Dam, 17 cm (6.5 in) above the Dalles and 14 cm (5.5 in) at Minaki.

Inflows and levels at Lac Seul are expected to remain stable over the next week. No outflow changes are planned with authorized outflow remaining at 350 m³/s.

With the exception of some heavy rainfall early this week impacting the headwaters of Lac Seul, conditions across the Winnipeg River basin have become much drier and very hot. This has allowed for tributary flows and lake inflows to start declining steadily. Upstream of Lake of the Woods, both Rainy and Namakan Lakes are expected to return to their rule curves this week, and as a result, outflow reductions at these lakes are underway. Once the level of Lake of the Woods has also come down a few more centimeters, outflow reductions at the dams in Kenora will be scheduled next week to match the cuts upstream and begin providing relief downstream on the Winnipeg River. More details on the outflow reductions will be provided early next week.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.29 m (1060.6 ft), an 85^th percentile level, above the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 2 cm (1 in) over the last week and is expected to decrease by 3 to 6 cm (1 to 2 in), over the next week. Lake of the Woods outflow is 1061 m³/s with all sluices fully open at the Norman Dam in Kenora. The dams cannot be opened any more and outflow will rise and fall with the lake level.  

With the Norman Dam fully open, outflows will change with lake levels and so will levels along the Winnipeg River.

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.38 m (1169.2 ft), a 30^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 2 cm (1 in) over the past week and is expected to remain stable, increasing or decreasing by 1 to 2 cm (0.5 to 1 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 350 m³/s with no additional changes currently scheduled.

The basin received moderate precipitation over the last week. As a result, inflows to the major lakes have remained high. Levels on Rainy and Namakan lakes as well as Lake of the Woods continue to decrease. With a large rainfall event forecast for July 27^th and 28^th, conditions will remain wet. This rainfall event will cause inflows to temporarily increase and will likely cause Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods levels to stabilize or increase.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.31 m (1060.72 ft), an 80^th percentile level for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 2 cm (1 in) over the last week and could decrease by 2 cm (1 in) or increase by 5 cm (2 in), over the next week, depending on precipitation amounts . Lake of the Woods outflow is 1062 m³/s with all sluices fully open at the Norman Dam in Kenora. The dams cannot be opened any more and outflow will rise and fall with the lake level.  

With the Norman Dam fully open, outflows will change with lake levels and so will levels along the Winnipeg River.

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.36 m (1169.16 ft), a 30^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 3 cm (1 in) over the past week and is expected to increase by 4 cm (1.5 in) or decrease by 1 cm (0.5 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 350 m³/s with no additional changes currently scheduled.

Moderate amounts of precipitation fell over the basin last week. Despite the rain, inflows to all major lakes have continued to decrease. Namakan Lake levels continue to decline and this week Rainy Lake level has stabilized. Lake of the Woods levels have also stabilized and are currently declining. With minimal precipitation in the forecast this trend is expected to continue.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.33 m (1060.79 ft), an 80^th percentile level for this time of year. The average lake level decreased by 2 cm (1 in) over the last week and is expected to continue decreasing by 2 to 4 cm, over the next week, depending on precipitation amounts . Lake of the Woods outflow is 1099 m³/s with all sluices fully open at the Norman Dam in Kenora. The dams cannot be opened any more and outflow will rise and fall with the lake level.  

With lake levels expected to slowly decline, outflows and levels along the Winnipeg River are expected to decline in a similar manner.

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.34 m (1169.09 ft), a 35^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 2 cm (1 in) over the past week and is expected to increase by 1 to 3 cm (0.5 to 1 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 350 m³/s with no additional changes currently scheduled.

After experiencing very wet conditions over the last couple of months, the Winnipeg River basin received less precipitation over the last week.The dry conditions have led to decreasing tributary flows and lake inflows across most of the basin. Lower inflows have helped slow the rate of lake level rise with conditions stabilizing over the past few days. There is moderate to heavy rainfall in the forecast early next week which could lead to increasing flows.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.35 m (1060.86 ft), an 80^th percentile level for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 2 cm (1 in) over the last week and is expected to remain relatively stable, over the next week, depending on precipitation amounts and upstream flow changes. Lake of the Woods outflow is 1070 m³/s with all sluices fully open at the Norman Dam in Kenora. The dams cannot be opened any more and outflow will rise and fall with the lake level.  

With lake levels expected to remain relatively stable, outflows are not expected to vary significantly. As such, levels along the Winnipeg River are expected to remain stable. Levels may vary as a result of local inflows.

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.32 m (1169.03 ft), a 35^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 6 cm (2.5 in) over the past week and is expected to increase by 7 to 12 cm (3 to 5 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 350 m³/s with no additional changes currently scheduled.

Over the last month, outflow from Lake of the Woods has been steadily increased due to sustained high inflows to the lake and rising water levels. These outflow increases have caused levels along the Winnipeg River in both Ontario and Manitoba to rise by several feet. River levels near Kenora have come up 285 cm (112 in) since mid-May. Further downstream, natural constrictions in the river hold back water and the level of the Winnipeg River is affected differently by the outflow from Lake of the Woods. The graph and map below show the water level at different locations along the Winnipeg River for different outflows from Lake of the Woods. The current outflow is close to 1100 m³/s, which means river levels are close to those shown by the green line in the graph.

At the town of Minaki, the river level is normally controlled by operations at the Whitedog Dam. However, because outflow from Lake of the Woods has been increased above 700 m³/s, the dam can no longer control water levels and they have begun to rise as well. The level at Minaki has increased by 93 cm (37.5 in) since June 1^st, just before Lake of the Woods outflow rose above 700 m³/s, which is 92 cm (37 in) above the normal level of 316.09 m. Further downstream in Manitoba, levels along the Winnipeg River have also increased and are now above their normal range for this time of year. The level at Nutimik Lake has increased by 105 cm (41 in) since June 1^st.

All sluice gates at the Norman Dam in Kenora are now open and outflow from Lake of the Woods can only increase with rising lake levels. The outflow will therefore increase gradually, unless heavy rainfall occurs. Over the next week, outflow is expected to increase by approximately 10 to 20 m³/s. Levels along the Winnipeg River will therefore rise by:

Below the Norman Dam	6 cm (2.5 in)
Above Kimberley Rapids	5 cm (2 in)
Winnipeg River Marina	5 cm (2 in)
Near Locke Bay	5 cm (2 in)
Above Myrtle Rapids	5 cm (2 in)
Above the Dalles	5 cm (2 in)
Above Throat Rapids	5 cm (2 in)
Minaki	4 cm (1.5 in)

For levels on the Winnipeg River in Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro provides a water level forecast: https://www.hydro.mb.ca/corporate/operations/water-levels/

The Winnipeg River basin has been experiencing very wet conditions over the last couple months. Large precipitation systems, bringing heavy rainfall, have been impacting the basin every 1 to 2 weeks since mid-May. Over the month of June alone, the headwaters of the Rainy-Namakan basin received the highest amount of rainfall in the last 30 years, and other parts of the basin all ranked in the top half for highest precipitation over the last 30 years. On July 2^nd, another such system brought 40 to 75 mm of rain, with the highest amounts over Lake of the Woods and the Rainy-Namakan basin.

This consistent rainfall has resulted in high tributary flows and high lake inflows. Outflows from the major lakes have been steadily increased to allow the excessive water to make its way downstream. However, because of the sustained rainfall and limits in outflow capacity, lake levels have been steadily rising. At Lake of the Woods, the lake level has increased 0.7 m (2.2 ft) since May 10^th. The current level of 323.31 m (1060.7 ft) sits just above the normal range, or at 80^th percentile. This means that in the last 30 years, the level of Lake of the Woods was higher than it is today 20% of the time, and lower than it is today 80% of the time. In 2022, on July 2^nd, the level of Lake of the Woods was 324.1 m (1063.3 ft), which is 0.8 m (2.6 ft) higher than it is today. Which means the level came up twice as high in 2022 as it has so far this year.

The above plots compare the level of Lake of the Woods in 2022 (left) with 2024 (right).

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.31 m (1060.7 ft) , an 80^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 7 cm (3 in) over the last week and is expected to increase by 5 to 9 cm (2 to 3.5 in) over the next week, depending on precipitation amounts and upstream flow changes. Lake of the Woods outflow is 1111 m³/s with all sluice gates fully open at the Norman Dam in Kenora. The dams cannot be opened any more and outflow will rise as lake level rises and pushes more water through the dams.  

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.24 m (1168.8 ft), a 40^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 7 cm (3 in) over the past week and is expected to increase by 3 to 7 cm (1 to 3 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow was increased to 350 m³/s Tuesday July 2^nd with no additional changes currently scheduled.

Conditions in the Winnipeg River basin remain very wet. Although there was a dry period following the large rainfall event on June 18^th and 19^th, the magnitude of the event coupled with more recent rain has led to sustained high-normal flows across the basin. The headwaters of the Rainy-Namakan basin received the highest amounts of precipitation, which resulted in local flooding.

More rain is forecast to occur this weekend and into next week which will lead to continued high flows and rising levels across the basin. Inflows to Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul will increase with this upcoming precipitation.

The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.26 m (1060.6 ft) , a 75^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 7 cm (3 in) over the last week and is expected to increase by 9 to 17 cm (3.5 to 7 in) over the next week, depending on precipitation amounts and upstream flow changes. The current outflow of Lake of the Woods is 1150 m³/s. With more rainfall in the forecast, all logs are being pulled from the Norman Dam, and outflow is expected to be reach 1200 m³/s by Friday, June 28^th. This additional flow is expected to raise the level of the Winnipeg River as follows:

• Below Norman Dam: 14 cm (5.5 in)

• Above Kimberley Rapids: 12 cm (5 in)

• Winnipeg River Marina: 12 cm (5 in)

• Near Locke Bay: 12 cm (5 in)

• Above Myrtle Rapids: 12 cm (5 in)

• Above the Dalles: 12 cm (5 in)

• Above Throat Rapids: 12 cm (5 in)

• Minaki: 9 cm (3.5 in)

The current level of Lac Seul is 356.15 m (1168.5 ft), a 40^th percentile level, within the normal range for this time of year. The average lake level increased by 9 cm (3.5 in) over the past week and is expected to increase by 13 to 19 cm (5 to 7.5 in) over the next week. Lac Seul authorized outflow is 300 m³/s with no changes currently scheduled.