MEETING LAKE

The Rural Municipality of Meeting Lake No. 466 under warm and dry conditions can experience fluctuations in lake levels. In recent years, the Water Security Agency (WSA) reported that water levels in the Northern Saskatchewan region have received extreme inputs of high cumulative precipitation since April 1, 2020, resulting in high flows and lake levels². WSA reported that Meeting Lake levels have decreased and about 17 mm of precipitation was recorded on September 20, 2020², which can indicate a slight increase in lake levels. Beams around the lake are built to WSA recommended standard of 739.83 – 740 m)².

Multiple news sources indicate that Meeting Lake shoreline property owners have growing concerns over rising water levels and potential flood events³. To mitigate overflow concerns, the article indicated that the Water Security Agency (WSA) agreed to fund half to improve the berm structure by rising the berm above sea level will allow the lake to reach its natural point.

The lack of consistent data for Meeting Lake makes predictability models difficult to develop. The rise in lake levels in Meeting Lake corresponded with the higher five-year average of precipitation levels¹. Land-use changes in recent years have also shown a decrease in vegetated areas¹. Ultimately, these changes have increased runoff due to increased level of precipitation, decrease in natural vegetation, higher intensive land and water level management, loss of wetland landscape, and climate change are all contributing factors to large amounts of runoff entering Meeting Lake¹.