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Reporting water levels have returned to normal, South Nation Conservation has lifted drought restrictions in place for more than two months throughout the 4,000-square-kilometre watershed.
“Recent rainfall events have raised levels above the Level 1 or low-water trigger,” Jason Symington, a technologist with SNC, said in a press release.
The agency’s water response team had issued a Level 1 drought warning in September when levels plummeted 70 per cent below a three-month normal.
That alert was ramped up to a Level 2 warning on Oct. 9.
With the move, municipalities in the watershed were asked to enforce water-restriction bylaws for residents to scale back water usage.
Water-takers were also asked to reduce consumption by 20 per cent as the agency said the situation could have an impact on fish habitat and raise the risk of forest fires.
SNC noted in its release that although conditions have returned to normal, water conservation is always advised.
The South Nation River watershed has its headwaters in Elizabethtown-Kitley and Augusta Townships and flows northeast for 175 kilometres through Spencerville and Winchester on its way to the Ottawa River near Plantagenet.