GRCA warning of high flood risk this spring
Posted Feb 19, 2015 05:25:05 AM.
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Eventually all of this snow has to go and when it does the Grand River Conservation Authority warns of flooding.
In fact, it says there is a high risk of flooding across the watershed this spring.
At its annual meeting of municipal flood co-ordinators, the GRCA warned there is upwards of 50 centimetres of snow on the ground across the watershed.
It says the snow won’t soak up much of the spring rains when they arrive and the fact the ground is frozen deep means the water will run off rather than soak into the ground.
Also of concern is the forecast indicating cold temperatures could stick around into March.
GRCA water resources engineer Stephanie Shifflett says, “The later the spring melt, the higher the likelihood of a rapid melt and river ice breakup.”
Potential ice jams could also be an issue since essentially all of the river system is covered by ice.
On the bright side, the authority’s seven reservoirs which are used to capture water from the spring melt have between 60 and 90 per cent of their storage space available so they can handle large inflows of water.
