June 28, 2005 Stream Flow Alert - Act 4

Here we go again!

It is raining once again and the forecast is for 50 to 80 millimeters of rain. That is another 2 to 3 inches. The ground is saturated and there is no where for the water to go. This will cause more flooding. Just spoke with Darren Banasch, owner of Hook and Hackle Canada Inc., and he informed me that the Sheep River is once again flowing through downtown Okotoks. Darren's business has remained dry so far but his residence had water seepage in the basement. Thanks to mopping up efforts all through the night ( during the last flood event ) they had very little damage as they were able to get most everything dried out. It would have been a different story if they hadn't worked all night long.

The rivers are rising with this latest rain event and so I'm recording flow rates once more.

to convert to cfs x 35     High rates in red

River         June 28 rates in cms 0500 hrs 0800 hrs 1200 hrs 1600 hrs 2000 hrs 2200 hrs
106 109 113

117

 114 116
423 407 403

425

 419 420
593 641 742

858

 1045 1181
76 75 117

128

 145 149
22 40 66

86

 93 89
69 97 266

479

 656 700
269 271 277

291

 322 339

 

It is hard to understand the 2005 run off on the Bow River. There are many things to consider. First, the power of the spate carving new channels, scouring the river bed and eroding banks and islands. Second is the loss of some or possibly most of the spring rainbow spawn, Third would be the loss of insect population and the subsequent hatches this and future years. Fourth would be the loss of fish that might get trapped as the river recedes. All of these things are worthy of discussion and conjecture. However, the last thing we need is false supposition based on part of the facts. What is known at this time is that all the data is not yet in and won't be in for years. A few years from now Fish and Wildlife will do an electro-shocking and find that an age class might have declined and when the data is studied it might be attributed to the 2005 run off. It might also find that the brown trout population is up.

Yes the rushing water will have rearranged the river. We will have lost some great structure but Mother Nature takes away as well as provides. There will be new and simply fantastic structure realized as the river becomes fishable - everyone will need to learn the river again. Yes there will be loss of some insects and yes there will be a loss of some of the spawn. It is foolish to guess at the extent of these losses. But we all know that rivers rebound after such floods. The 1995 flood caused losses in the above areas and the river and the fishery not only survived but flourished. This will be the case again. The river will be better than ever given a little time. A biologist put this way, "Short term pain for long term gain." 

Access points, as I've previously mentioned is a big concern. Also, the guiding community is taking a hit as trips are either rescheduled or cancelled. This will hurt some more than others. The entire industry spawned from fly fishing will suffer. Airlines, hotels, fly shops and so on.

It should be mentioned that as of July 1st, after repeated efforts by myself to motivate the Alberta Government, I've yet to see any response from them. They seem to be disinterested. If not disinterested, then "late to the dance". 

To put the run off into perspective - there have been 3 run offs in June. The flow at Carseland, which is the total of the Bow and its tributaries, on June 6th was 267 cms. On June 8th it was 1537 cms. The flow dropped and then on June 16th it was 441 cms. Three days later the flow was 1945 cms. The river dropped once more to 445 cms on June 27th. By June 29th the river had risen to 1352 cms. This was the 3rd run off. As of July 1st the flow is 539 cms. and dropping. It should be noted that there were a few drift boats on the river in the last week more as an exploratory trip but they did fish and land trout. 

BACK TO FLOOD INFORMATION   JUNE FLOW RATES