Drier than normal winter; flood risk low for much of Saskatchewan

Outside of the Saskatoon, Kindersley and Rosetown and areas, it’s been a drier than normal winter for Saskatchewan.

That’s according to the Water Security Agency’s Patrick Boyle, its executive director of communications.

“(We have seen) fairly dry conditions for a lot of the summer and fall in 2020 in most areas of the southern part of the province. Outside of that large snow event that Saskatoon and some of the areas there, (like) Kindersley and Rosetown saw, the snowpack was pretty much below normal for a lot of regions,” Boyle told the Brent Loucks Show Thursday. He added that south of Saskatoon, the season brought below-normal conditions.

“Even further south, to the Moose Jaw, Assiniboia and Weyburn sort of corridor, it’s a well-below normal situation for run-off this year.”

In terms of water supply, with the Rocky Mountains flowing into the South Saskatchewan River, all signs are pointing to near-normal conditions, according to Boyle.

“That alpine snowpack this year is variable. So, kind of below normal in Old Man River headwaters then you’re slightly above normal in the Bow and Red Deer River areas there. But, really we’re nearing a normal elevation for Lake Diefenbaker in mid-March here,” he explained.

Boyle added that the rainfall in June and July is the biggest driver for summer flow.

What about the flood risk within the province? Boyle said there haven’t been a lot of issues within most of Saskatchewan.

“We never say never,” he said. “You can see some of those heavy, spring rains that can change things very, very quickly. Spring run-off to date here has had a pretty slow freeze-thaw cycle with temperatures … you get above 0 – 5 C during the day, then freeze at night, and that slows down even more.”

Boyle mentioned that they are seeing some above normal issues in Saskatchewan’s far northern portions for flooding, such as the communities of Stony Rapids and Uranium City.