Overland flooding is becoming a challenge in some areas of the province according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.
In some areas of the province, 100-275 millimetres of rain has fallen in the past week or so. As a result of the precipitation, the province has seen 39 flood incidents so far this year, up from 9 total last year. There have been 11 new declarations of local emergency due to localized flooding.
Leah Clark, the executive director of Irrigation and Economic Development for the Water Security Agency says it will differ region to region as to when the soil is able to absorb water again.
“Saskatchewan is a diverse province, but we are in some areas quite flat. Depending on where we are in the province, and when we can get that water moving and how those outlets are, it really does drive how quick that recovery is for that soil to be able to take on more moisture. We have some areas where we call them semi closed basins that it takes a lot longer for water to move and for recovery to happen.”
Saskatchewan isn’t the only province to see some major rain over the past month. Areas in Alberta have seen a major amount of rainfall during the month of June. Some rivers in Alberta will feed into rivers in Saskatchewan, including the North Saskatchewan River which runs through Prince Albert.
Clark says they aren’t anticipating any major flooding to come on the North Saskatchewan.
“Through those major water systems, we do have heads up when there’s those (major) rainfall events, but we are able to manage them well through the major river systems. We don’t anticipate as of right now any issues.”
Her statement was echoed by Patrick Boyle, who is the executive director of communications and client service for the Water Security Agency.
“It’s important to keep in mind the North Saskatchewan River, although it’s unregulated, essentially not managed until it gets to Tobin Lake and the reservoir there. It’s a very large river so it takes quite a bit of water to make its way through there. Sometimes it’s just looking at that increased flow and we haven’t seen anything just yet that’s coming through as a result of some of that rainfall.
In certain areas of the province, highways have faced closures due to water running over top of the road and compromising the road itself.
Dan Palmer, the senior communications consultant with the Ministry of Highways says the damage they’ve seen to roads has differed.
“That will depend on what part of the province you’re in and where the highway is. But things like culverts damaged or the shoulders, the edges of the highways eroded or complete washouts. It varies as much as the province’s geography, but those are some of the things we’re seeing.”
In terms of wildfires, the province currently has 61 active across the province. As of 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, four are contained, eight are not contained, 38 are ongoing assessment and 12 are protecting values.
The notable wildfires in the province are the Border fire near Mary Lake (9 hectares, protecting values), the Gulak fire (309 hectares, not contained), Costigan fire (4000 hectares, protecting values), Red Fire (1393 hectares, not contained) and the Kerslake fire (4500 hectares, not contained).
