Risk of flooding higher this week with warm temperatures, rain on the way: GRCA
Grand River Conservation Authority will be keeping close eye on water this week, officials say
The Grand River Conservation Authority is keeping a close eye on water levels this week.
A warm-up is forecast for Waterloo region with highs of 6 C and 12 C predicted for Wednesday and Thursday.
Cam Linwood of the GRCA says when rain combines with warm temperatures over a period of days, the conservation authority pays special attention to the water.
"There's still quite a bit of ice in the river system as well as a whole lot of snow on the landscape, so what this event will do is it will cause some melting and certainly heighten our level of awareness and level of vigilance when it comes to keeping an eye on the conditions going on," Linwood said.
He said an ideal melt would involve cooler overnight temperatures.
"What that does is it essentially turns on and off the tap and that helps moderate the melting that goes on," he said.
Warming up
The forecast calls for an overnight low of 6 C on Wednesday and 1 C on Thursday.
Linwood said when the region simply gets warmer temperatures and rainfall without a substantial cool-down overnight, there's a higher risk of flooding.
"We really need to pay attention to exactly how quickly that snow melts off that landscape, how much that rainfall is going to impact things," Linwood said.
He said the GRCA is also monitoring ice jams in certain areas.
"Some of those ice jams are certainly nowhere near as strong as they were back in early February where we saw some significant ice jam flooding throughout the region," he said.
On Friday, the GRCA warned that communities prone to ice jam flooding include Cambridge, New Hamburg, Grand Valley, West Montrose, Brantford, Caledonia, Cayuga and Six Nations.
The GRCA has warned people to use extreme caution and stay off of all bodies of water right now.
Parents and pet owners are advised to be vigilant about keeping their children and pets away from water.