A Canadian Coast Guard vessel cut a path through the ice on Lake Erie into the mouth of the Grand River at Port Maitland Saturday, relieving pressure upstream on the 280-kilometre-long river and surrounding watershed.

"It's early in the season to be calling in an icebreaker. Given there was quite a bit of ice on Lake Erie as well as the (weather) system that impacted the watershed over the past week, and in co-ordination with Haldimand County, we thought it was a good idea to call ." Grand River Conservation Authority communications co-ordinator Cam Linwood said Sunday afternoon.

The conservation authority issued a flood watch for the lower Grand River from Caledonia to Port Maitland after strong gale force winds overnight Thursday and Friday morning caused a surge in Lake Erie water levels, it said on its website.

It said the lake's levels peaked in the morning slightly above warning levels, resulting in minor flooding in portions of Port Maitland and along the Lake Erie shoreline. Those lake levels also saw the ice pack at Port Colborne pushed up at Gravelly Bay and in the Welland Canal.

Carol Launderville, spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard out of Sarnia, said the Coast Guard sent its light icebreaker CCGS Griffon - a frequent visitor to Port Colborne - which came from Amherstburg on the western end of Lake Erie to the area to help reduce the potential for flooding.

While it broke up the ice at the entrance, the vessel also worked just offshore travelling in circles to break up lake ice.

"That gives the water and ice somewhere to go and prevents ice at the mouth of the Grand and further out into the lake from further compounding the issue," said Linwood.

He said there are two ice jams on the river, one above a dam at Caledonia and another above a dam at Cayuga.

With the water flow on the river receding, colder temperatures and no rainfall, the likelihood of ice jams moving downstream was lessened on the weekend, he said. However, with the potential for rain over the next couple of days and warmer temperatures ahead those conditions could change.

"There's really not a whole lot you can do to manipulate ice jams in the river. They can set up and form quite quickly without any warning," Linwood said.

In years past, the conservation authority and county have called upon fthe Coast Guard multiple times a season to help break up ice.

"The relationship we have with them and their willingness to support us when able is fantastic," said Linwood.

Launderville said public safety is a top priority of the Coast Guard.

"We remain in close partnership with the United States coast guard on our shared waterways, to ensure the safe movement of cargoes, flood mitigation, and search and rescue missions," she said.

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Linwood said the conservation authority would have its flood watch for the lower Grand River in place until Monday morning and would review the situation on the watershed. Updates will be provided on its website.

"The riverbank is incredibly slippery and we certainly don't want people going near the ice jams. We want them to stay well away, it's not a place you want to go and get close to," he said.