Mid-morning Friday the water level in the South Saskatchewan River is already subsiding, evident at the river's edge looking towards Riverside with Finlay Bridge in view.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Early Friday morning there were already signs of the water level in the South Saskatchewan River subsiding in Medicine Hat.
Alberta Environment predicted there would be a rise of 40 cm on Thursday night.
At 2 p.m. on Thursday afternoon the depth was 4.719 metres. A darker edge of the river bank early Friday indicated the water had reached a high and then began subsiding.
Alberta Environment’s website indicated a depth of 4.938 metres at 8 a.m.
Jason Penner, communications for Alberta Environment and Parks, said the peak flow was expected to be about 1,100 to 1,300 cubic metres per second. At 8 a.m. on Friday it had reduced to 1,126 cubic metres per second.
The top of the normal range for this time of year is 750 cubic metres per second.
Merrick Brown, director emergency management for the city, said there would be no overland flooding.
In the last few days there had been significant rainfall in the Oldman River Basin and that water was slowly making its way to Medicine Hat via the South Saskatchewan River.
The expected water level rise on Friday is expected to be the peak and after that the waters would decline, said Brown.
