With warmer temperatures and rain in the forecast for the watershed the Grand River Conservation Authority was planing to closely monitor river conditions and forecasts over the coming weeks.
In a statement effective until March 11, the authority reminded the public to exercise extreme caution around rivers, streams and water bodies.
“Any remaining ice cover will be severely eroded due to rain and thaw, and riverbanks will be icy and wet,” the authority cautions.
“While air temperatures may be well above normal, water temperatures are still just above freezing. Anyone going into the water could fall victim to hypothermia within minutes, losing feeling in arms and legs and then becoming unconscious.”
The overall spring forecast is for a warmer and drier than normal spring in the Grand River watershed.
A portion of the runoff from recent melts has been stored in the large reservoirs operated by GRCA. Runoff from snowmelt and rainfall in March is used to fill the large reservoirs to their normal April 1 operating levels. The large reservoirs are being filled a little earlier than usual this year to capture runoff from the snowpack that melted much earlier than is typical. The remaining storage in the reservoirs will be used to reduce flood risk and reservoir levels will be filled to their April 1 operating level over the remainder of March.
More information is available on the GRCA website.
