On the first day of spring, Lamont County was busy preparing for the seasonal flooding that comes with warmer weather.
Already, the county had closed more than a dozen rural roads and issued weight restrictions for others in an effort to prevent their condition from becoming any worse.
The situation feels a bit like déjà vu.
“Last year it flooded so bad… we know it’s coming,” said Village of Andrew resident Becky Holtner.
“It’ll get to the point where we won’t be able to get down the roads very well.”
Across the county, warm weather has been melting snow—but with the ground still frozen, the water is causing surface flooding. The worst conditions are seen in the northern part of the county, where the land naturally drains to the river.
Last year’s spring melt prompted a local state of emergency in Lamont County after the worst flooding seen in decades.
And this year, it has inspired earlier action by the county.
“Unlike last year what we're trying to do is be a bit more proactive rather than reactive. So what Lamont County is doing is the establishment of a fully dedicated drainage crew,” explained Chris Valaire, the county’s public works director.
His team is also working on an overall master drainage plan that will quantify how much water is in the county, show where it’s moving and show how it can be properly drained.
Valaire said the county has hundreds of culverts along 2,100 kilometres of road. Part of the team’s responsibility will be assessing those, and fixing any that are corroded, broken or blocked by slush caused in the melt-free cycle.
“Where do we need to focus our attention to make sure we are minimizing impacts for most of taxpayers?” he said.
Miles Mackow is the general manager of Webb’s Machinery, which sells and services farm equipment.
He’s hoping the spring’s melt isn’t too quick or severe.
“There's been concerns because there's a lot of snowpack out there and it has yet to melt,” Mackow said.
“That really affect their spring seeding plans,” he said of his agriculture customers.
“We are happy with the amount of moisture we have the issue is if that snow melts and runs off very quickly them that causes problems.”
Alberta Environment and Parks’ issued a spring runoff advisory on March 15 ahead of the warmer-than-usual temperatures.
However, it said that while the plains snowpack levels are “slightly higher” than those measured last year, “we do not anticipate the same situation this year.”
It said the 2018 melt was characterized by temperatures that were well-above seasonal during the day, and remained above zero overnight.
The department said overnight temperatures would remain below freezing until the weekend, when more average temperatures are expected.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
