As you know, water levels on the Ottawa River continue to rise, and are projected to exceed record levels this weekend. Energy Ottawa, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa, is monitoring the water levels closely at each of its six generating stations at Chaudière Falls and the one generating station at Rideau Falls.
We continue to deploy flood protection measures to protect our assets including sandbagging, building barricades and equipping plants with back-up pumps. While these measures have been successful at mitigating damage to date, there continues to be significant risk of damage to our hydroelectric stations as water levels reach unprecedented levels.
The Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board and Hydro Quebec are forecasting the Ottawa River will exceed levels observed during the 2017 floods on Saturday, peaking on Sunday. For the first time since the 2017 floods, all 50 gates of the ring dam have been opened to allow water to flow downriver. For your information, we have published a video of the current situation on social media to keep our customers and the residents of Ottawa informed.
Energy Ottawa is working together with our partners at other dams along the river to ensure the excess water flows are managed cohesively to limit flooding along the entire Ottawa River, and mitigate damage to waterfront homes. Furthermore, we have reached out to the City of Ottawa, City of Gatineau and National Capital Commission to share the latest projections and identify areas surrounding Chaudière Falls where flooding could occur.
Hydro Ottawa and Hydro One have both committed to waive all disconnect and reconnect fees for those impacted customers.