I happened to be in the right place at the right time this year!  I’ve always wanted to see the dam go down behind John McCrae School and I happened to be biking by this Monday at 2:00 pm as the dam was lowered.  Very cool - very noisy!   I came back around 6:00 pm and the pond was about 80% full.  I estimate it takes  a full 4-5 hours to completely fill, depending on water volume in the river.

According to the GRCA staff on site, the dam is not for flood control - it is solely for the purpose of providing recreational use of the river.  Without the dam, the Speed - Eramosa portion of the river would not be navigable by canoe and they get a lot of pressure every year for the dam to be lowered to kick-off the canoeing season.  Makes sense.  But it would be nice if the dam could be raised for the OPIRG Speed River Clean-Up.

The Speed River Clean Up this year will be Saturday, June 9th. This is always a great family event!