Island homeowners who have seen water creep into their basements or even collapse their foundations this spring, can take some comfort in the fact that the worst is over.
Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment Chester Gillan said data taken from observation wells last week show that the water table elevation has passed its peak and is on the decline.
As many Island homeowners know all too well, water table elevations have risen dramatically over the past few weeks as the mounds of snow have disappeared.
"For a period of time, temperatures hovered just above the freezing point, resulting in a slow, steady melt," explained Minister Gillan. "With little or no frost in the ground, the majority of the melting water sank into the ground rather than running off over the surface."
The Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment maintains a series of observation wells across the province to monitor fluctuations in the water table level. At one site in New Dominion, at its peak, the water table elevation was two meters higher than the previous record high. At another observation well at Sleepy Hollow, the peak water table elevation this year was approximately one meter above the previous high for the 11-year period data has been collected.
"When you look at graphs that plot the changes in the water table level, what is most striking is how quickly the levels shot up," said Minister Gillan. "At New Dominion, the water table level increased six meters in a matter of days."
That dramatic increase is what caused problems for many Islanders. In some cases, people who had never had water in their basements before were dealing with flooded floors. In others, the high infiltration rates and higher water table put additional pressure on building foundations.
Minister Gillan said a good analogy is traffic.
"If you try to put more cars through in an area in an hour than the speed limit can handle, you end up with a traffic jam and a backup of traffic," he said.
The Minister said the positive news is that the water table will be in a good position for the summer, even if there is less than normal precipitation. That is because the level of the water table in the summer depends more on the amount of recharge in the spring than the amount precipitation in the summer.
Minister Gillan said snow melt and heavier rains in the spring, combined with the fact that there is less evaporation and use by plants in early spring, mean there is an excess of water moving through the soil and recharging the water table. In the summer, there is usually not much recharge even if there is a lot of rain because the higher temperatures result in greater evaporation and transpiration - a process that sees growing plants and trees release water into the air as they take up food and water from the soil.
"Because of evaporation and transpiration, the water table elevations will gradually decline over the summer months. But because they peaked at such a high level, the lows this summer may very well be above the highs of previous summers," said Minister Gillan.