Persistently low river levels this summer have exposed substantial sandbars in Medicine Hat, which are being monitored by the city's water department but are not yet a cause for major concern, officials said Tuesday.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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River levels in Medicine Hat are very low, but they’ve been lower without the need for mandatory conservation measures, according to officials at the city’s water treatment plant.
On Tuesday the South Saskatchewan River fell to levels about two thirds below the typical low range for any given year at this time. Large sandbars that appeared this spring are now covered with vegetation after their summer in the sun.
“It is very low,” said water treatment plant superintendent Greg Paxman. “We have been monitoring flows upstream. But they’ve been this low before. All our systems are operating and we’ve asked everyone to conserve water as much as possible.”
The city moved to Phase I of a voluntary water conservation plan on Aug. 28, asking, but not requiring, Hatters to limit non-essential water use and suggesting tips to use less water on such things as lawns and gardens.
Paxman said river levels were similar in 2017, and lower in 2001. In both years, the city’s plant managed without the need for mandatory restrictions, like barring on-street car washing.
River levels are measures in volumes that move past a point, described in units of cubic metres per second.
At Medicine Hat station on Tuesday, readings sank to 37 cubic metres per second, whereas the long-term average range is between 75 and 150 for a typical September.
Water levels typically peak in late June between 200 and 800 cubic metres per second. In 2001, said Paxman, reading fell as low as 26 cubic metres per second. The near record flood of 2013 produced a reading of about 5,300.
This year however, levels began dropping in late May when they should have been rising and haven’t returned to the average range.
That, said Paxman, is due to less than normal snow pack in the mountains that feed the Oldman and Bow river systems. The two join to form the South Saskatchewan River near Bow Island.
The hope is that normal or above normal precipitation in the winter will improve the outlook next year.
“Our water usage in Medicine Hat usually dips in the fall, which will help us out,” he said.
Low-flow advisories are currently in place along the eastern slopes of the Rockies that comprise the headwaters of the two basins, as well as the Milk River basin and portions of the Red Deer River basin north of Brooks.
Major irrigation districts adjusted some allotments in the early summer but eventually returned them to normal.
However, the St. Mary’s Irrigation District put new restrictions in place on Sept. 12 to allow the system to operate on minimum flows until the earlier than usual shut-off date of Sept. 22.
The Eastern Irrigation District in Brooks said water delivery will be closed early this year in order to retain more water in reservoirs ahead of the winter and next spring.
