KAWARTHA LAKES-Much of the time, the Burnt River is a placid watercourse, as it drains a significant proportion of Victoria, Peterborough and Haliburton Counties. But once every few years, the water level surges to an astounding degree. In those moments, it can be hard to believe the volumes of water that flow towards Cameron Lake.
Water levels on the Burnt River watershed have been carefully managed since the nineteenth century. Originally, lumber companies manipulated the waterway to produce deluges that could sweep their log booms downstream. In the twentieth century, this watershed has been managed to allow year-round navigation on the Trent-Severn Waterway—which would not be possible without holding back large quantities of water to maintain water levels in Summer and Autumn. Today, most people take precise hydrological management for granted—that the Burnt River will not rise and fall, and that the lakes will always contain just the right amount of water. This is a very unnatural state of affairs. Despite the infrastructure that has been developed, there is only so much that can be done.
The river flooded in 1976, but the spring of 1991 is often described as the worst flood in living memory—some claim it was even worse than the 1928 disaster that inundated downtown Kinmount, and caused much damage downstream. An unusually abrupt thaw caused the Burnt River to suddenly rise on April 9. In Kinmount, the river was starting to overflow its banks, threatening to flood the village, while eroding the shores around the dam. In an era where everyone expects precise water level management, the Ministry of Natural Resources faced a difficult choice: Should they allow Kinmount to flood or release the water downstream? They used sandbags to plug the eroded channels around the dam, and opened the dam, releasing some of the reservoir that was forming at the settlement. Was there any solution where there would not be significant flooding somewhere?
By April 11, the Burnt River had significantly overflowed its banks near the village of Burnt River. In some places where the river was typically 40 or 50 metres wide, it was then more than a kilometre in width. At Burnt River, roads on all sides of the village were inundated, fields and lawns were under water and at least 50 homes or cottages flooded. By then, water levels north of Kinmount were receding, but they were continuing to rise further south. At its peak, the river was 14 feet above its typical level. The original image here, shows the Burnt River, downstream of the village, with the old railway bridge (now the Victoria Rail trail) in the distance.
Residents were trapped in their homes and were rescued by the Ontario Provincial Police using boats and four-wheel drive vehicles. The Burnt River Somerville Centre housed evacuated families. Furniture, propane tanks, picnic tables, decks and docks were floating down the river. One farmer had a bridge over the river on his laneway—which was inundated with 10 feet of water, so he parked his car on the road and used a rowboat to reach his home—he was prepared for the crisis. Fenelon Falls’ Canadian Tire was kept busy delivering sump pumps. Many wells were flooded, making them unsafe. Many roads, especially small cottage roads, became impassable and some washed out. In some areas, such as Cedar Plank Cottages, electrical service had to be discontinued for safety reasons.
The flood was a shocking event for the community and people began to ask how it had happened. Rumours began to circulate that a dam had broken, which was refuted with an official press release. In the aftermath, many angry citizens attended a public meeting at the Burnt River Somerville Centre. They sought to have it declared a disaster and were concerned that even if disaster relief was granted, it would only help permanent residents. Some were inclined to believe that human errors had caused the flood, which might have helped with insurance claims on policies where “Acts of God” were excluded. The residents demanded a public inquiry. But at the end of the day, what would it take to stop the Burnt River from rising?
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
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