Lake Victoria to steadily fill for 28th Dragon Boat Festival

Robert Ritz, posing with his grandchildren in front of the Rotary Dragon Boat Festival’s display at Market Square in 2024, is chair of the organizing committee. After some concern with the water levels of Lake Victoria, the 28th annual festival is set to return to the lake on Sept. 13.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Over the next few days, Stratford residents will notice a sharp increase in Lake Victoria’s water-levels – just in time for the city’s 28th Rotary Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 13.

That wasn’t an accident. Robert Ritz, chair of the organizing committee, has been hard at work since the lake began to drain late July in order to make sure the waterfront is ready for the festival. As he told the Times, however, it hasn’t been just him.

“My focus right now is getting water in the river,” Ritz said. “I’m also working with other businesses to do ‘in-kind’ for us, so it’s a real community effort to make it happen by the teams who have the ability to do it.”

The whole saga began after a July 24 rainstorm, when debris was caught under the north sluice gate of the RT Orr Dam, preventing it from fully shutting. Although shut on July 31, the lake had continued to drain at a rapid rate, leaving the waterfront at concerningly low water-levels for much of the month of August.

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), which manages the dam and waterway, reported that it was discussing next steps with the City of Stratford, but that the most likely scenario was that the lake would fill with rainwater over a few months time.

However, as Ritz explained, the lake needs to be at capacity for the festival to proceed, and while they could have pivoted and held the event at the Wildwood Reservoir, the flagship event is a beloved Stratford staple. They could not rely on Mother Nature.

“We like to be in Stratford,” Ritz said. “People forget, there’s a whole other side of the festival. (Teams) come, they stay for the weekend, go to the plays.”

Citing a figure from Destination Stratford, Ritz said that the economic impact from the festival is $180,000 a year with over 3,000 participants and many more spectators coming to downtown Stratford to attend – and that was in jeopardy if relocated to Wildwood.

Although Ritz had inquired with UTRCA and the city about filling the lake with water from local gravel pits, the organizing team were about 70 per cent into the planning process for Wildwood when they received word from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks that they were “pretty on board” with Ritz’s plan. The organizing team submitted a Permit to Take Water (PTTW) to the ministry on Aug. 22, expecting to get approval to pump on Aug. 29.

United Rental Fluid Solution is providing the pump and hoses at a discounted rate, and Corey Denham of Denham Construction, one of the event’s in-kind sponsors, will be assisting in the pumping on the day.

“We are also pursuing a past-in-kind sponsor, Core Fuels, to provide the diesel fuel as required to operate the pump,” Ritz is quoted in a written statement. “Mike and Lindsey Higgins of Lynn River Farms own the land where the pump and hoses will be located. Mike has been very cooperative and is providing us with assistance to set up the pump and hoses. The pit owners, Michael Wilhelm Excavating Ltd. and the Township of Perth East have been very supportive and patient throughout the process.”

“The pump is arriving tomorrow morning,” Ritz later said on Monday, Aug. 25, “We’ll be hooking it up to do a test run with the engineer on site and then once we get the word, we’ll open it.”

Their efforts should raise the lake by two or three inches in the early days, pumping about 8,000 litres per minute from the gravel pit. With 16 inches needed in total, without rain the lake should be filled once again in eight days, Ritz estimated.

While slightly warmer than the river, Ritz said the water’s pH level is very similar to the lake’s and is within “allowable tolerances.” It is not expected to impact the ecology of the lake.

Ritz thanked Water’s Edge Environmental Solutions Team Ltd., an engineering firm assisting the group in organizing the fill, as well as the whole community for keeping the festival in the city’s core park system, even when the odds were against them.

The Rotary Dragon Boat Festival is the biggest Rotary fundraiser, raising about $50,000 for Rotary Stratford each year, which uses the funds for local projects. Since the festival’s inception, it has raised $1 million.

This year, 47 teams (and counting) will participate in the recreational Hong Kong-style races. Classes include mixed division, breast cancer and women’s division teams, which will compete in over 30 500 metre four lane races, in addition to a 2,000-metre race final featuring the top eight teams.