Increased risk of ice jam along Grand River, flooding could happen 'without warning': Conservation authority

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 1:16 PM EST | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

A flood ticker for the full Grand River watershed has been extended done the play due to the fact that there's an accrued hazard of crystal jams, which could origin flooding.

The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) extended the flood ticker issued earlier this week connected Thursday. It is present acceptable to expire connected Monday.

The authorization says up to 20 mm of rainfall fell successful parts of the watershed connected Tuesday and Wednesday. Warm temperatures besides led to melting snow. Both of these person caused accrued h2o levels successful section rivers and streams.

"A important magnitude of crystal is inactive contiguous successful watercourses and immoderate tiny crystal jams person been observed upstream of Brant Conservation Area and upstream of Veterans Memorial Parkway successful Brantford, arsenic good arsenic successful the assemblage of York," the GRCA said connected Thursday.

"Elevated flows whitethorn origin the crystal to interruption up and commencement moving, which raises the hazard of crystal jam enactment and associated flood potential."

Be prepared for flooding: GRCA

Each municipality has flood co-ordinators who show their areas and volition nonstop retired alerts to residents if it appears an crystal jam oregon flooding is possible.

But the GRCA besides said radical should hole present for imaginable flooding.

"Residents who typically acquisition flooding should beryllium prepared arsenic conditions tin alteration rapidly and without warning," the GRCA said.

People are besides being reminded to enactment distant from bodies of h2o due to the fact that banks and shores whitethorn beryllium slippery owed to mud oregon ice.

"As galore students caput into the March break, parents are reminded to support their children and pets distant from each watercourses.

"Winter activities, including crystal fishing, are present closed astatine each Grand River Conservation Areas. River crystal screen is unstable owed to thawing conditions and fluctuating h2o levels. The nationalist is reminded to enactment disconnected of each ice-covered waterbodies, owed to unsafe conditions."

Warmup expected adjacent week

Environment Canada issued a wintertime upwind question advisory for Waterloo region, Guelph and confederate Wellington County connected Thursday. Up to 5 centimetres of snowfall are possible, but the upwind could origin blowing snow, making driving hard astatine times.

The forecast shows temperatures volition stay conscionable beneath freezing until Sunday and snowfall is likely. On Sunday, the somesthesia rises to conscionable supra freezing, past the aboriginal portion of adjacent week volition spot it emergence further to astir 10 C.