Bracebridge's State Of Emergency

In quieter seasons - Photo By Fred Schulz

BRACEBRIDGE'S STATE OF EMERGENCY - BASS ROCK FLOODING, DOWNSTREAM DAMAGE

MUSKOKA RIVER OVERFLOWS ITS BANKS

     AS A MATTER OF SOME IRONY, AT LEAST TO ME, I WROTE LAST EVENING ABOUT MY EARLY DAYS HANGING-OUT AT BASS ROCK, ON THE MUSKOKA RIVER, IN THE URBAN AREA OF THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE. IT WAS A DANGEROUS PLACE EVERY SPRING, EVEN IF THE FLOW WAS REDUCED BY A SLOW MELT, AND A LOW LEVEL OF PRECIPITATION. AT THE NARROWING PORTION OF THE RIVER'S FLOW, AT BASS ROCK, ON RIVER ROAD, AN ACCIDENTAL TRIP INTO THE RAGING CURRENT, WOULD HAVE MEANT CERTAIN DEATH. WE ALL KNEW TO RESPECT ITS BLACK, TWISTING, CURLING CURRENTS, THAT COULD PULL YOU UNDER, AND CARRY YOU DOWNSTREAM, INTO ITS LARGE BAY, BEFORE LETTING GO.

   I DIDN'T SEE THE FLOODING IN THIS AREA TODAY, BUT IT IS A LOW-LEVEL ZONE THAT HAS BEEN HIT BY HIGH WATER MANY TIMES IN THE PAST. MY PARENTS USED TO LIVE AT THE BASS ROCK APARTMENTS, AND ALTHOUGH I DON'T REMEMBER IT CROSSING THE ROAD, AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT, (DURING MY PARENTS YEARS OF RESIDENCY) IT WAS CLOSE ON MANY OCCASIONS. FURTHER UP THE ROAD, AT THE FORMER HART'S GREENHOUSE LOCATION, WELL BEFORE THE INCLINE TO THE HUNT'S HILL BRIDGE, RIVER WATER USUALLY SPILLS OVER, ANNUALLY, EVEN BACK IN MY CHILDHOOD; THE LATE 1960'S AND EARLY 70'S. WE USED TO RIDE OUR BIKES THROUGH IT FOR A LAUGH.

     I WAS AT THE BRACEBRIDGE FALLS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON, AND I MUST CONFESS, TO NOT BEING ABLE TO RECALL A SIMILAR OCCASION, WHEN RIVER FLOW WAS ACTUALLY POUNDING OVER THE DAM RAILINGS. I'VE SEEN IT DO THIS IN A SMALL WASH, OVER THE CONCRETE, BUT TODAY'S FLOW WAS, AT TIMES, HITTING UP OVER THE RAILINGS, BEFORE TUMBLING INTO THE BASIN OF BRACEBRIDGE BAY.

   BELOW, IT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE ENCROACHMENT OF THE PARKLAND, ON THE POWER HOUSE SIDE, THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A BAD MONTH FOR FLOODING DOWNSTREAM. IN FACT, I CAN ONLY REMEMBER THREE OTHER OCCASIONS, WHEN I HAVE SEEN IT APPROACHING THIS HEIGHT; ON ONE OCCASION, SERIOUSLY DAMAGING COTTAGES AT VUE DE LAC, PAST THE BEAUMONT FARM, ON BEAUMONT DRIVE. I RECALL BEING EMPLOYED WITH THE LOCAL PRESS, AND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF A BOATHOUSE FLOATING OUT TO THE LAKE. I EXPECT, FROM WHAT I WITNESSED TODAY, THAT IT WILL SURPASS THAT YEAR'S LEVEL.

     THE PROBLEM WITH THIS FLOODING, IN ADDITION TO WHAT DAMAGE IT WILL DO TO BOATHOUSES, DOCKS, AND BOTH COTTAGES AND HOUSES, SITUATED ON FLOOD PLAINS, IS THAT IT CAN LEAD TO SOME PRETTY SERIOUS SHORELINE EROSION, WHICH FROM PAST EXPERIENCE, CAN BE PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS TO LOCAL SHORELINE RESIDENTS. I HAVE COVERED THESE SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT LANDSLIDES, ON SEVERAL LOCATIONS ALONG THE RIVER, WHERE LARGE PORTIONS OF SHORELINE, TREES INCLUDED, SLIPPED DOWN INTO THE RIVER COURSE. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF VULNERABLE AREAS ALONG THE RIVER, WHERE THIS COULD PRESENT A PROBLEM IF THE WATER CONTINUES TO RISE, INCLUDING SECTIONS OF BEAUMONT DRIVE, AND A LONG STRETCH OF SHORELINE, BEFORE THE HUNT'S HILL BRIDGE, WHERE YOU CAN STILL SEE THE REMNANT TREE TOPS, OF THE LAST SLIDE EVENT.

     I WAS A REPORTER, IN THE 1980'S,  AT THE TIME OF MAJOR FLOODING OF RIVER ROAD, PAST BASS ROCK, WHERE RESIDENTS HAD TO USE BOATS TO ACCESS THEIR HOMES AND COTTAGES, AND AGAIN ON SANTA'S VILLAGE ROAD, WHERE IT HAS A LONG STRETCH OF WELL TRAVELLED TARMAC, ONLY A FEW FEET ABOVE THE RIVER THROUGH A MAJORITY OF THE YEAR. I THINK HISTORY WILL SHOW HOWEVER, THAT SINCE THE MID 1960'S, SERIOUS DAMAGE HAS BEEN MITIGATED FORTUNATELY, DESPITE SOME SIMILARLY HIGH WATER. THE PROBLEM OF BEING A DRAINING SYSTEM FOR A HUGE AREA OF THE REGION, AND BEYOND, INCLUDING LARGE PORTIONS OF ALGONQUIN PARK, IS THAT BALA IS THE ONLY OUTLET FROM LAKE MUSKOKA…..RECEIVING THIS CONFLUENCE OF HIGH WATER FROM THE MUSKOKA RIVER.

     IT WAS A DRAMATIC MOMENT, TO WATCH THIS POUNDING RIVER FLOW, OVER THE BRACEBRIDGE FALLS DAM, AND A LARGE CROWD OF SPECTATORS HAD GATHERED TO WATCH THE NATURAL SPECTACLE.

     THE SCULPTURE OF "THE DIVER," THE BRONZE ART PIECE, CREATED BY GRAVENHURST ARTIST, RICHARD GREEN, IN THE 1980'S, WAS ONLY BARELY VISIBLE THROUGH THE TUMBLING WATER TODAY. THE ORIGINAL PLACEMENT OF "THE DIVER," WAS ON A ROCK IN THE CENTRE OF THE CATARACT. A BUILD-UP OF ICE, BROKE THE SCULPTURE'S MOUNT, AFTER IT WAS POUNDED BY THE SPRING RUN-OFF, ONE YEAR, SHORTLY AFTER ITS PLACEMENT. IT WAS MOVED TO A LOCATION UP ON THE ROCKS, AT THE SIDE OF THE WATERFALL, BUT TODAY IT WAS EVEN GETTING HIT HARD BY WATER RAGING OVER THE DECLINE.

     MANY PEOPLE HAVE PERISHED IN THE STRONG CURRENTS OF BRACEBRIDGE BAY, SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF SETTLEMENT, CIRA 1860, AND THE WAY IT WAS BOILING IN THE BASIN, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LETHAL GAMBLE, TO GET TOO CLOSE, ESPECIALLY ON THE WALKWAYS AROUND THE PARK, IN CASE OF SUDDEN EROSION, OR A SLIP AND FALL MISADVENTURE.

     FRED SCHULZ HAS PLANNED A PHOTO-SHOOT AT THE FALLS, AND ALONG THE RIVER, TOMORROW, SO PLEASE VISIT THIS BLOG ON SATURDAY EVENING, FOR SOME INTERESTING VANTAGE POINTS, OF A RAGING MUSKOKA RIVER…….AS MOTHER NATURE CAN UNLEASH WHEN WE GET TOO COMPLACENT, AND FORGETFUL OF HISTORICAL PRECENDENTS.

     THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME TODAY. PLEASE VISIT AGAIN SOON.