Record dry weather has driven the Sturgeon River to some of its lowest levels in years, say local experts. Alberta Environment data show that flow rates in the Sturgeon River in St.
Record dry weather has driven the Sturgeon River to some of its lowest levels in years, say local experts.
Alberta Environment data show that flow rates in the Sturgeon River in St. Albert have been well below the normal range since early May, plummeting to just slightly more than 0.1 cubic meters a second just prior to the June 11 thunderstorm. That storm pushed the river back up to its seasonal norm of about 2.0 cubic meters a second for about a day or so, after which it soon dropped back down to 0.3 – well below average for this time of year.
The Sturgeon has been reduced to a trickle through St. Albert as a result, with more than one metre of muddy riverbed exposed on either side of it. Big Lake is also once again choked with algae.
The river is definitely way down compared to past years, said long-time river-watcher Ludo Bogaert.
“It's as low as I've ever seen it.”
Alberta Environment's data suggests that the Sturgeon is seeing at least a one-in-four year low in terms of flow this season, said Ralph Wright, soil moisture specialist with Alberta Agriculture.
This was likely because the Sturgeon watershed was at a one in 25-to-50 year low for precipitation this growing season, he continued.
City strategic services director Leah Kongsrude agreed, and noted that the river previously saw flows this low back in 2012.
“It is not unusual, and it is completely linked to the amount of snowpack we had this winter, which was very little.”
Climate change and land use alterations have also sapped flows in the Sturgeon over the decades, notes the 2012 Sturgeon River State of the Watershed report. Average flows in the Sturgeon River in the last decade were 58 per cent below their historic levels due in most part to drought conditions.
Kongsrude said much of this is due to land-use changes such as the construction of hard surfaces and the removal of shoreline vegetation, both of which reduce groundwater recharge. Groundwater is the main source of base flow in the Sturgeon.
Water withdrawals are another factor. Towns, farms and businesses are licensed to take up to 30 per cent of the Sturgeon's mean annual surface flow and to use about 13 per cent of it, the state of the watershed report suggests.
The Sturgeon River Watershed Alliance plans to do a study to determine how this licensed use is affecting the river, Kongsrude said.
Wright noted that cool temperatures and the occasional rains could help bring the Sturgeon back to normal this summer.
“This is the dawn of the wettest four-week period of the year,” he said, and there's a good chance we could return to normal rain levels.
Flow rates in the Sturgeon can be found on the Alberta's River Basins section of the Alberta Environment website.
City residents might recognize the lady running the BLESS Summer Nature Centre this year – she's the sister of the one who did it last year.
The Big Lake Environment Support Society announced this week that it had hired St. Albert's Jillian Dyck to run its popular summer nature program at the old log cabin in downtown St. Albert.
Dyck is the sister of Meagan Dyck, last year's summer nature centre co-ordinator, and is in her second year of a forestry degree at the University of Alberta.
“Last year, I volunteered (here) with (Meagan) all summer,” Dyck said, so she decided to apply for the job this year. She's thrilled she got the position.
Dyck said she would be offering a host of free nature-related activities at the centre starting July 2. Each week will be based on a different theme, such as mammals, insects or forestry.
The centre will be open from 12:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on other weekdays from July 2 to Aug. 28.
Dyck is also looking for a high-school-aged volunteer to help run the centre. Those interested should contact her at the centre or at [email protected].
