North Saskatchewan River water level to rise significantly

The North Saskatchewan River is expected to increase flows and water levels.

The Water Security Agency released a public advisory with the estimated increase. Water levels will rise approximately one and a half metres, and the river flow will increase from 320 cubic metres per second to nearly 1,000 cubic metres per second.

The agency said this was likely due to major rain west of Edmonton feeding the source of the river.

Agency spokesperson Patrick Boyle said there won’t be any immediate danger to those living in the area.

“(There are) not a lot of flooding issues, but we’re going from dry conditions to above normal based on this amount of rainfall,” he said Monday.

He said recreational users of the river — “Canoers, kayakers, people like that” — will face the biggest problems.

However, Boyle doesn’t think it’s impossible to get out in the water in these conditions.

“You don’t want to be a very junior person out on the river. It usually takes a pretty experienced individual when you have these high flows,” he said.

He doesn’t expect the South Saskatchewan River to be affected.

You can see a full list of flows and lake levels in Saskatchewan here.