Part of Kingston Yacht Club flooded due to high water levels

The Kingston Yacht Club is partially under water, and water levels in Lake Ontario are expected to continue to rise.

The outflow from the lake was restricted last week to reduce the stress on the St. Lawrence River and flooding downstream from Ottawa and Montreal after heavy rainfall.

In the meantime, water levels along the Kingston shoreline are approaching record levels.

“Normally, we would have 40 to 50 seats out here,” said Greg McNab, Kingston Yacht Club general manager, while standing on the club’s flooded patio.

McNab said that along with the record-breaking levels of 2017, the last few seasons of high water have been rough for the business.

In 2017, the club’s patio and boat slips flooded. McNab says the current water level is almost a metre higher than normal and that Lake Ontario is normally about 30 centimetres below the club’s docks.

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“We had a dry run. if you will. It wasn’t a dry run, but we had a dry run in ’17 to understand the complexities that were needed to get through something like this,” McNab said.

WATCH: Water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River projected to break or exceed 2017 peak levels

1:03 Water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River projected to break or exceed 2017 peak levels

In 2017, the club lost about $30,000 in revenue from food and beverage sales because it couldn’t use the patio. McNab says the club also then spent about $20,000 on repairs due to the high water.

This year, the club is expecting it to get worse.

“We are roughly an inch and a half to two inches below where we were in 2017 right now (and) we anticipate this to rise still another four to six inches,” he said.

This year, the club doesn’t think the water will recede until late July or early August as it did in 2017.

According to information released Tuesday by the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, outflows from Lake Ontario have increased once again after they were temporarily reduced during last week’s rainfall, increasing the water level in the St. Lawrence River.

The board is reiterating that Lake Ontario has still not reached the record highs of 2017.