Fire Ban in all of Frontenac County, Addington Highlands and Stone Mills

Jeff Green | Aug 03, 2016

Moderate drought conditions persist, declaration regarding a severe drought now pending

Citing continuing dry conditions and residents’ concerns, South Frontenac Fire Chief Rick Cheseborough declared a total fire ban in South Frontenac on Tuesday afternoon (August 2)

“Because our residents have been extremely cautious with fire this summer and have been following the rules that are in place, we've had no major brush fires except for a couple of calls as the result of lightning strikes,” Cheseborough said shortly after declaring the fire ban.

However, with the MNR fire rating set at high, and a number of residents phoning the township office reporting dry conditions in the vicinity of their homes, the township decided to put the fire ban in place.

“The ban will stay in place until there is a significant rain,”said Cheseborough, “not just a short thunder shower or the five drops we got at some places over the weekend.”

On Wednesday morning, (August 3) a full ban was put in place in Central and North Frontenac, Addington Highlands and Stone Mills. A full ban has been in place in the City of Kingston which includes the rural region to the north of the city proper, since mid-July, A campfire-only order remains in place throughout Lanark County.

Along with fears of brush fires, conservation authorities throughout the area maintained moderate drought warnings for the entire region in news releases last week, and with continuing hot, dry conditions, chances of a severe drought being declared in August are high and rising.

According to a July 27 release from the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, which covers much of South Frontenac, rain earlier that week may have helped lawns and gardens, but that is all.

“While the Cataraqui region did get rain, it was a minimal amount (only a few millimetres), not enough to raise stream flows or lake levels, or provide respite from the drought conditions of the past few months,” said the release.

It went on to say, “The long-term forecast appears to predict a continuation of hot and dry conditions through the fall, which means current conditions may continue for a number of months to come. Steady, sustained, significant rainfall for a number of days is needed to bring conditions back towards normal.”

As the result of low water on lakes and streams, recreational use has been affected. Boaters and swimmers are being warned that the low water has the “potential to expose hazards that are normally irrelevant.” Residents who use shore wells or private ground water wells are also being cautioned that they should be practising water conservation as a hedge against their wells running dry.

The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA), which covers much of Central and North Frontenac, also said that the rainfall that occurred was not sufficient to initiate a recovery in lake and stream levels.

“A significant rainfall over a large portion of the watershed will be required to return the watershed to normal conditions,” said Gord Mountenay, MVCA water management supervisor.

Quinte Region Conservation’s water resources manager, Christine McClure, went further in a release that came out on July 26.

“The long-range forecasts do not show much rain, either. It looks as though the hot and dry conditions will continue into the fall. This means we are at risk of moving into a Level 3 Low Water Condition unless we receive a steady amount of rain.”

The Quinte Region watershed covers parts of Addington Highlands and the western end of North, Central and South Frontenac along the Salmon River Watershed.

Quinte also declared their own fire ban in the Depot Lakes Campground, which is located west of the Frontenac Arena.