The BC River Forecast Centre issued a High Streamflow Advisory for the Quesnel and Williams Lake areas yesterday. (Thursday)
Despite that, Ron Richert says he’s not concerned about flooding, at least not at this point.
He says there are a couple of things working in our favour.
“The rivers and creeks are at an all-time low so we have a bit of a buffer this year going into freshet, and also this weather that is on the weekend isn’t supposed to last, it’s supposed to go back down to below average temperatures next week some time.”
Richert says while Baker Creek has definitely come up, it’s still lower than in the past at this time.
“It is definitely lower this time than last year. We definitely had more of a snowpack on the west side and into the Chilcotin area which will impact Baker Creek somewhat. We are 2 to 3 weeks behind with the melting, and we have some colder than average temperatures predicted for the next couple of months.”
Despite all that, Richert says he and city officials will continue to monitor the creek and the rivers in the area.
“We do monitor and go check the rivers daily, between myself and some of the staff from the city. We also check on the Emergency BC website as they have some indication as the water levels rise, so we check that and we have certain spots in the city we check on a regular basis.”
Richert says they also check for debris.
“That is always a concern. A few years ago we had a lot of logs coming down the river and banks eroding and hanging up on the Baker Creek Bridge on Anderson Drive, so we’ve got equipment on standby for that kind of thing.
Richert says they are advising people to stay away from the banks of the creeks and rivers in the area as a precaution.