Residents may be tempted to put on their flip-flops with temperatures climbing into the double digits this weekend, but with spring weather comes spring melting.
Melting which has turned Danielle Liebl’s property into a lake.
“I’m standing at my front window right now and there’s actually two ducks that are eating the grass around my flower beds,” said Liebl.
“My whole yard is absolutely a disaster (and) the kids – they have to walk to the bus down the driveway – I’ve been taking the quad and giving them a ride every day.”
Liebl, whose property lies south of Highway 37, said the water has been in her yard for the past two weeks and has now drained enough so that she can see her driveway. She admits her land is probably one of the hardest hit in the area.
Flooding has caused several road closures in the area, including: Range Road 270 from Highway 37 north to Township Road 552; Range Road 271 from Township Road 552 north to Township Road 554; Township Road 555A from Range Road 225 to Range Road 230 and Range Road 270 from Highway 633 south to Township Road 540.
Range Road 244 from Township Road 574 to Township Road 572 will be closed until the morning of May 2 due to spring run-off.
Bob Stephen, manager of Sturgeon County transportation services, said workers have been busy thawing culverts, ditching and replacing culverts with larger ones in order to improve drainage.
“The volume of snow was higher and the spring run-off was higher than normal,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of houses flooded, but that’s no different than we had in 2011. It’s minor problems.”
Residents are encouraged to contact County Transportation Services at 780-939-8252 if they have questions and/or come across dangerous flowing areas.
Thawing of the high snow pack has also left its mark in St. Albert where branches of the Red Willow trail system are under water.
Residents may notice the high level of the Sturgeon River, which is expected to peak this week, said Leah Kongsrude, manager of community sustainability with the City of St. Albert.
“What we’re seeing right now is levels that are in a normal range for the river and very similar to peaks we experienced in 2011 or 2007,” she said.
Coined “the spring freshet,” Kongsrude explained the rising river is a natural occurrence every spring that “freshens” up the river. The higher flows help move ice away, clean up the fine sediments that have accumulated in the river and recharge drier areas.
“We had quite dry years in between 2008 and 2010 because we didn’t have a lot of snow pack in the winter, so we prefer to have a little more snow so the water levels have a chance to maintain their normal depth,” added Kongsrude.
As a result of the spring thaw, pathways along the Red Willow Trail have flooded and residents are asked to watch for signage and use caution when they’re walking along the river.
Recent flooding has also forced organizers of RunWild Marathon to reroute the marathon, half-marathon and 10 km to avoid the Boudreau, St. Albert Trail and Perron Street bridge underpasses for the event on May 5.
