Rainfall over the last week has brought much reprieve to Drumheller and surrounding areas after suffering through a drought in 2021, but the deluge of rain has also prompted the province to issue several flood warnings and advisories.
Between Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16 water levels peaked at nearly 1.75 metres at Drumheller, with a flow rate of about 175 cubic metres per second (cms).
“At this time I have no information being supplied to me that indicates a high water event is imminent,” Director of Protective Services Greg Peters says.
However, he warns “situations can change and be fluid” and he continues to monitor the situation to ensure council and administration can be informed in a timely manner if necessary.
The Mail reported in its May 18 edition the water levels at Gleniffer Reservoir were below average at about 36.3 per cent capacity.
As of Friday, June 17 these levels had risen to about 73 per cent capacity. Outflows at Dickson Dam also increased, from about 16 cubic metres per second (cms) on June 12, to 245 cms as of Friday.
A high streamflow warning issued last week for the Red Deer River, from the Dickson Dam to the Saskatchewan border, has remained unchanged.
As of Friday, June 17, water levels for the Red Deer River at Drumheller peaked at a flow rate of some 363 cms and a depth of about 2.6 metres.
Data between June 17 and June 20 is currently unavailable on the Rivers Alberta app for some areas along the Red Deer River, including Gleniffer Reservoir and at Drumheller. Alberta Environment and Parks is aware of the data outage and are working to resolve the issue.
Mr. Peters says, based on information from Environment Canada, it is estimated the Drumheller Valley received nearly 77 millimetres of rain between June 13 and June 17; an additional 10.7 millimetres of rain fell over the weekend according to Environment Canada.
