Property owners who experienced flood damage in the Rainy and Namakan chain of lakes in June and July have until Dec. 22 to respond to an online survey.

The deadline to respond to the flood damages survey has been extended until Dec. 22. Visit the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board website at http://ijc.org/en_/RLWWB to participate in the survey.

The survey is a part of the review and evaluation of the performance of water level management strategies for Rainy and Namakan lakes set in 2000 by order of the International Joint Commission.

Tom Dougherty, Rainy Lake Property Owners Association Board, said the association asked the watershed board to extend the deadline for the survey because of the timing of the former deadline. He said “snowbirds” were returning to their winter residences away from Borderland and the Minnesota deer season, “when everybody was consumed with that,” was underway.

“This is giving people more of an opportunity to do the survey and complete it,” he said Tuesday. “The association feels it’s extremely important they do that so we can see a true reflection of damages.”

The IJC has funded a project on behalf of the watershed board to assess the risk of flood damages in the area including the shoreline of Rainy, Namakan, Kabetogama, Sand Point, Little Vermillion, and Crane lakes, collectively known as the the Rainy and Namakan chain of lakes.

Dougherty said the association has notified every registered property owner on the United States side of Rainy Lake with a letter encouraging them to participate in the survey.

The watershed board’s flood risk assessment has included a variety of components, including the completion of more than 130 face-to-face interviews with shoreline property owners in the fall of 2013 to discuss their perspectives on potential risk of flooding damages.

Given the flood conditions observed in June and July 2014 within the study area, additional input from shoreline property owners is required to ensure the flood risk assessment adequately captures the types of flooding damages experienced as well as the magnitude of those damages, said a watershed board news release.

The survey is available on the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board website to help shoreline property owners on the Rainy and Namakan chain of lakes report on their damages during the past summer.

The survey also allows for damage reports from property owners on the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods shoreline as the information will support future water level management activities in those areas.

Participation in the process is voluntary; participants may choose to skip any questions on the survey.

“However, your participation is critical to the success of the project,” said the watershed board release. “Detailed information on the types and extent of observed flooding will help verify whether the flood risk assessment is properly representing property owner concerns.”

Dougherty said participation in the survey is critical. He said an example of the damage from the recent flooding can be seen on a land owner’s Gold Shores, or County Road 138, property, where an estimated $20,000 of erosion and private road damage occurred.

“How many docks on Rainy Lake were damaged, and on Namakan and Kabetogama, where a lot of damage occurred?” said Dougherty. “We sure hope people fill out the survey.”

Information gathered through the survey will be held in strict confidence and will only be used for consolidated reporting, said the news release.

Property owners are reminded the survey is not an application for assistance. Instead, the survey is intended to gather information on private property damage to support future review of water management strategies in the system.

Dougherty also said the survey is not an attempt to seek compensation for damages.

“It’s just to have data which is for going forward with the rule curve review process,” he said.

Dougherty said the RLPOA’s technical and research committee, or team, is conducting research into the past history of water levels and weather patterns to form it’s own opinion of the 2000 water level orders.

The members of the team have backgrounds that include engineering, dam keeping and long-term lake residency with “knowledge that is priceless,” he said.

The association plans to participate in the 2015 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum held at Rainy River Community College March 11-12, said Dougherty.

“It’s exciting,” he said of the forum. “We will have a voice there.”