Power boaters asked to stay off North Saskatchewan River due to low water levels

Boaters using motorized craft are being told to stay off the North Saskatchewan River by Edmonton emergency crews as water levels remain extremely low.

Lower than normal precipitation rates combined with slower snowmelt upstream in the mountains have caused river levels to remain lower so far this season.

Bruce McWhinnie, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services chief of special operations, says that means even for the most experienced boaters, river conditions are significantly different for the time being.

"Anybody that's using larger powered watercraft the channels that they normally travelled in, in previous seasons are likely different," he said. "As a result, there is a strong possibility of that craft going aground and going to result in a rapid deacceleration of that vessel."

"When you ground you are probably going to be pitched out and you are going to incur injury from hitting the ground," added Cst. Joe Spear, an Edmonton Police Service disaster and emergency operations planning section member.

Spear shared how in one instance a Sea-Doo operator had been sent flying after the craft ran aground on the shallow river bank.

"That's a real possibility right now with the river being as low as it is," he added. "It's a big concern."

River rates around the city at this time of year are expected to be around 150 cubic metres per second, Spear said. As of Tuesday, they were hovering around 80.

"So as you can see, the river is flowing at half the rate," he said.

For paddlers, canoers, or kayakers, Spear said that means they should expect to be out longer than before.

"Or working a lot harder to get downstream with their paddles," he added.

Colleen Walford, an Alberta Environment and Parks river forecast specialist, said the North Saskatchewan experienced its lowest flow rate in May in the past 50 years.

The mountain snowpack melt is approximately two to three weeks behind schedule this year, Walford added.

"We are just a little slow this year," she said. "It'll just take some time."

The river forecaster expects water levels to normalize by July.

"The melt takes up to about six weeks," Walford said.

"(Luckily) it's not overly wet so the basins can absorb some of that," she added, "but its not so dry that we are water-short."

While the river is sitting lower than it normally does, McWhinnie said anyone non-motorized boaters still need to be prepared with life jackets.

"The possibility of drowning in swift water is always real," he said. "With swift water, it's not necessarily the depth of the flow. It's the fact that moving water is relentless."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb