(Photo courtesy of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority)(Photo courtesy of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority)
Chatham

Officials Monitoring Closely As Water Levels Continue To Rise

The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority (SCRCA) is keeping a close eye on water levels as the region gets ready for another round of rainfall.

A flood watch has been issued by both the SCRCA and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.

SCRCA Water Resources Specialist Steve Clarke says the rainfall has tapered off slightly in the region, but we'll still be getting another 15-20 mm later in the day and overnight on Tuesday. He says this rain will bring the total accumulation since Monday into the 35-40 mm range.

Clarke says most of the water levels in the region are rising at a fairly reasonable rate.

"With the warm temperatures and melting snowpack, a lot of the snow is melting and flowing into the water courses. Plus with the additional rain, we sort of have to add that together to create an overall picture of how much water there is flowing through the system," explains Clarke.

He says the SCRCA is monitoring the water levels closely and has staff out in the field looking at current conditions.

"Currently there is some inundation in the upstream areas of rural farmland where the water essentially gets into the floodplain," says Clarke. "[This] actually alleviates some of the lower issues that we may see because we get a little bit of storage from the fact that the water is flowing over the floodplain."

Clarke says there is still ice on most major water courses, which is expected to erode at a rapid rate over the next couple days due to the warmer temperatures and flow of water.

"We anticipate the ice to start to perhaps move in the next day or two and of course, we'll be watching to see how that doesn't jam up or anything. We don't anticipate any major issues at this point, but again, we're watching things on an hour-to-hour basis just to ensure that we've got a good picture of what's going on out there," he says.

Clarke says the flood watch that is in effect will likely be updated later on Tuesday to reflect current conditions.

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