High stream flow advisory to remain on North Saskatchewan River until Monday

Edmontonians are being advised to keep their distance from the North Saskatchewan River as it is currently under a high stream flow advisory.

Recent above average rainfall west of the city caused the river’s height to surge Friday. In the Rocky Mountain House area, over 100 millimetres of rain fell, which fed into the North Saskatchewan.

“It’s going to be deceptively fast, you’ll see heights in the river that you’re not used to seeing, so an abundance of caution is recommended if you’re in and about the river over the next couple of days,” said Colleen Walford, a river forecast engineer with Alberta River and Parks River Forecasting Centre (RFC).

Dog owners are being warned to keep their pets away from the river for the time being.

“You can see how fast the trees were going by, so you can see you wouldn’t have a chance,” said Danielle Murray, a dog owner.

On Thursday at the Terwillegar Dog Park, Murray encountered a woman who was in the water trying to get her dogs back to shore. Both dogs and their owner made it out safely, but the experience was a reminder of what could happen.

“It’s really terrifying… I have a much smaller dog and if that was my little guy, he would have been gone in a second,” said Murray.

Just like you wouldn’t let your dogs walk on the ice in the winter or in the early spring, I would not let your dog walk in the river right now, no matter how big they are.”

In addition to the increased speed, sediment in the river prevents people from seeing what’s happening under the surface.

“It’s kind of like an iceberg that way, you really don’t know what’s going on under there,” said Walford. “Yes, the water levels are higher than before, clearances might technically appear like they would be better, but there’s a lot of stuff in the river now, I was shocked when I looked at it yesterday.

“It’s just not a safe place to be right now.”

The river reached its peak forecasted height Friday, but the advisory will remain in effect until Monday, when the RFC will reassess the situation.

Walford stressed that the river is behaving as expected for the amount of rainfall that happened and that Edmonton is not experiencing a flood.

More information on river advisories is available on the government’s website. rivers.alberta.ca

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jessica Robb