High river flow poses safety risk to public

By Lethbridge Herald on June 16, 2022.

Herald photo by AL BEEBER The Oldman River flows under the High Level bridge. Water flow and level are both higher after recent rains.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

With high water flows, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services water rescue team lead Brendon Pyne is urging residents to be cautious.

The increased water flow down the Oldman River could be bringing with it hazards such as barbed wire as well as trees that may be partially or completely submerged as well as other hazards that could put people and pets in peril.

And Pyne says anyone who witnesses a dog or human in distress in the water needs to call 911, emphasizing that the rescue crew will respond to calls of animals in peril.

“We want citizens to be concerned about the amount of runoff and the water level being higher, it can be bringing hazards you can’t see on the surface. It can be washing barbed wire down the river, there could be ropes, any sort of entanglement items like trees or big boulders and stuff from being shifted and moved around.

“We want people to be aware when they’re walking on the banks of the river because of the high water, it can be eroding away the banks and cause collapses and they can fall in the water. So we need people to be a little more cautious walking the river, as well,” said Pyne.

Pyne said with the current high volume of water flow, he recommends against being on the river right now.

“We want to emphasize that even if there’s an animal in the water, we still do respond to animal rescues,” Pine said.

“We just ask that they keep eye contact on that animal while we’re trying to get our river boat deployed so that we can get out there and hopefully retrieve the animal for them,” said Pyne.

As of 12:30 p.m., the Oldman River near Lethbridge was flowing at a rate of 338.49 m3/s.

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