Blind River Dam

The Blind River Dam controls the water levels for the lower Blind River and Lake Duborne. Located about 300 m upstream of the Blind River outlet into the north channel of Lake Huron, the dam is owned by the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry and operated, along with its adjacent 100 kW hydroelectric generating station, by the Town. Located within the Town of Blind River, the dam is integral to power production, spring flood control, fisheries protection, and recreation in the area.

History

The original Blind River Dam was built more than 100 years ago on private land to operate a sawmill. The first concrete structure was built in 1939 and operated by the Town until 1966 when the Government of Ontario agreed to take ownership.

The dam was rebuilt in 1974 as a concrete structure with moveable winches on rails. During the construction, a fish slide was replaced with a fifth control gate. Since construction, the dam has seen major renovations with the addition of a generating facility and an overflow gate in the west bay in 1998 and concrete rehabilitation in 1999.

Currently, the dam consists of three stop-log sluices, one mechanical gate and the two-unit hydro generating facility. The station sends power to municipal buildings located on Martin and Hudson Streets. Water levels are maintained by placement or removal of stop logs, or by adjusting the mechanical gate.

Learn more about the Blind River Dam by viewing our Blind River Water Management Plan.

2015 Blind River Dam leakage

In 2015 the Ministry sought to address excessive leakage occurring in gates 3, 4 and 5 of the dam. Work was completed from August to September 2015 to seal the leaks and rehabilitate the dam's gates.

View the Ministry's documents presented to Town Council during a presentation on Sept. 8, 2015:

Water level reports

View our recent Blind River Dam water level reports. Please contact us at info@blindriver.ca or 705-356-2251 if you would like to view reports from previous years.

2018 water level reports

2018 Target Water Levels and Compliance Limits

Date	Water Level	Number of Logs Out	Comment
Jan. 9, 2018	0.63	7	Dock
Jan. 16, 2018	0.69	7	Dock
Feb. 16, 2018	0.60	5	Dock
Feb. 20, 2018	0.56	4	Dock
Feb. 23, 2018	0.58	4	Dock
Feb. 26, 2018	0.60	4	Dock
March 2, 2018	0.67	5	Dock
April 6, 2018	0.61	5	Dock
April 9, 2018	0.57	4	Bridge
April 10, 2018	0.60	4	Bridge
April 30, 2018	0.59	22	Bridge
May 3, 2018	0.60	20	Bridge
May 4, 2018	0.67	28	Bridge
May 6, 2018	0.80	31	Bridge
May 9, 2018	0.67	28	Bridge
May 14, 2018	0.65	26.5	Bridge
May 16, 2018	0.62	18.5	Bridge
May 22, 2018	0.84	7.5	Bridge
May 28, 2018	0.80	9.5	Bridge
June 4, 2018	0.72	9.5	Bridge
June 11, 2018	0.73	5	Bridge
June 13, 2018	0.75	5.5	Bridge
June 18, 2018	0.71	6.25	Bridge
June 27, 2018	0.66	3	Bridge
July 3, 2018	0.65	0	Bridge
July 11, 2018	0.63	0	Bridge
July 16, 2018	0.60	0	Bridge
July 20, 2018	0.57	0	Bridge
July 25, 2018	0.55	0	Bridge
Aug. 1, 2018	0.50	0	Bridge
Aug. 6, 2018	0.50	0	Bridge
Aug. 13, 2018	0.48	0	Bridge
Aug. 17, 2018	0.46	0	Bridge
Aug. 20, 2018	0.44	0	Bridge
Aug. 22, 2018	0.43	0	Bridge
Aug. 24, 2018	0.42	0	Bridge
Sept. 4, 2018	0.46	0	Bridge
Sept. 17, 2018	0.47	0	Bridge
Sept. 21, 2018	0.49	0	Bridge
Sept. 26, 2018	0.50	0	Bridge
Oct. 1, 2018	0.63	2	Bridge
Oct. 5, 2018	0.72	3	Bridge
Oct. 9, 2018	0.68	5	Bridge
Oct. 12, 2018	0.68	8	Bridge
Oct. 17, 2018	0.68	10.5	Bridge
Oct. 22, 2018	0.65	19	Bridge
Oct. 26, 2018	0.72	22	Bridge
Oct. 31, 2018	0.71	19	Bridge
Nov. 5, 2018	0.68	16	Bridge
Nov. 9, 2018	0.69	17.5	Bridge
Nov. 14, 2018	0.68	15.25	Bridge
Nov. 21, 2018	0.67	12	Bridge
Nov. 26, 2018	0.74	13.5	Bridge
Dec. 5, 2018	0.67	12.5	Bridge
Dec. 10, 2018	0.64	11	Bridge
Dec. 18, 2018	0.62	11	Bridge
Dec. 21, 2018	0.64	6	Bridge
Dec. 28, 2018	0.65	4.5	Bridge

2019 water level reports

Date	Water Level	Number of Logs Out	Comment
Jan. 2, 2019	0.69	6	Bridge
Jan. 7, 2019	0.65	3.5	Bridge
Jan. 16, 2019	0.68	4.25	Bridge
Jan. 23, 2019	0.62	4	Bridge
Jan. 28, 2019	0.65	4	Bridge
Feb. 6, 2019	0.66	3	Bridge
Feb. 15, 2019	0.67	3.5	Bridge
March 4, 2019	0.64	4	Bridge
March 11, 2019	0.60	4.25	Bridge
March 18, 2019	0.61	5	Bridge
March 25, 2019	0.66	13.5	Bridge
March 27, 2019	0.62	14	Bridge
April 3, 2019	0.61	14.5	Bridge
April 8, 2019	0.68	17	Bridge
April 10, 2019	0.77	25	Bridge
April 15, 2019	0.74	33	Bridge
April 22, 2019	0.93	33	Bridge
April 25, 2019	0.98	35	Bridge
May 3, 2019	0.91	35	Bridge
May 6, 2019	0.81	33	Bridge
May 10, 2019	0.74	33	Bridge
May 15, 2019	0.69	22.5	Bridge
May 29, 2019	0.69	22.5	Bridge
June 3, 2019	0.65	17.5	Bridge
June 12, 2019	0.61	14	Bridge
Dec. 4, 2019	0.70	13	Bridge
Dec. 6, 2019	0.65	11	Bridge

2020 water level reports

Date	Water Level	Number of Logs Out	Comment
June 1, 2020	0.55	0	N/A
June 2, 2020	0.55	0	Log Sealing
June 3, 2020	0.55	0	Log Sealing
June 4, 2020	0.53	0	Log Sealing
June 5, 2020	0.58	0	Log Sealing
June 6, 2020	0.62	0	N/A
June 7, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
June 8, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
June 9, 2020	0.64	0	Log Sealing
June 10, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
June 11, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
June 12, 2020	0.70	0	Log Sealing
June 13, 2020	0.62	0	N/A
June 14, 2020	0.64	0	N/A
June 15, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
June 16, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
June 17, 2020	0.67	0	N/A
June 18, 2020	0.68	0	N/A
June 19, 2020	0.70	1	N/A
June 20, 2020	0.73	3	N/A
June 21, 2020	0.67	3	N/A
June 22, 2020	0.65	1.5	Log Sealing
June 23, 2020	0.65	1.5	N/A
June 24, 2020	0.66	1.5	N/A
June 25, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
June 26, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
June 27, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
June 28, 2020	0.67	0	N/A
June 29, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
June 30, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
July 1, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
July 2, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
July 3, 2020	0.68	0	N/A
July 4, 2020	0.68	0	N/A
July 5, 2020	0.68	0	N/A
July 6, 2020	0.66	0	N/A
July 7, 2020	0.67	0	N/A
July 8, 2020	0.68	0	Log Sealing
July 9, 2020	0.66	0	Log Sealing
July 10, 2020	0.70	0	Same level at dam
July 11, 2020	0.70	1	N/A
July 12, 2020	0.71	1	N/A
July 13, 2020	0.72	2	N/A
July 14, 2020	0.70	2	N/A
July 15, 2020	0.67	4	Heavy rain
July 16, 2020	0.65	2	N/A
July 17, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
July 18, 2020	0.65	0	N/A
July 19, 2020	0.69	4	Heavy rain
July 20, 2020	0.74	4	N/A
July 21, 2020	0.71	4	N/A
July 22, 2020	0.69	4	N/A
July 23, 2020	0.67	3	N/A
July 24, 2020	0.69	3	N/A
July 25, 2020	0.69	3	N/A
July 26, 2020	0.70	3	N/A
July 27, 2020	0.69	3	N/A
July 28, 2020	0.68	2	N/A
July 29, 2020	0.67	2	N/A
July 30, 2020	0.67	1	N/A
July 31, 2020	0.68	1	N/A

2021 water level reports

2022 water level reports

GENERATING STATION REPORTS

December 2022
January 2023
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023
May 2023

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