WATERSHED CONDITIONS STATEMENT – WATER SAFETY / FLOOD OUTLOOK
Issued: March 18, 2020 at 2:00 pm; Valid until: March 21, 2020)
Current weather forecasts call for rain over the next few days, with the possibility of thundershowers. Widespread rainfall is expected Thursday with 10 to 15 mm of rain forecast across southern Ontario and isolated areas possibly receiving 20 mm. While the ground is wet from recent events and, therefore, prone to higher rates of runoff, the forecast rain should not cause any significant flooding issues.
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) officials are monitoring the situation, and will report on any changing conditions if necessary. The UTRCA’s flood control reservoirs at Fanshawe, Wildwood, and Pittock Conservation Areas are at seasonal levels, and will be used to reduce downstream flooding if required.
The UTRCA wishes to assure flood coordinators that the current COVID-19 situation is not affecting our flood forecasting and warning program, and that we will continue to provide timely messages as appropriate through regular communication modes.
Parents are reminded to keep their children and pets away from waterways. Everyone is encouraged to exercise caution around local ditches, streams and rivers, and to stay off of frozen waterbodies and flood control reservoirs. Banks adjacent to rivers and creeks are slippery and, when combined with cold, fast-moving water, pose a serious hazard.
See Thames River water level information
Contact: Eleanor Heagy, Communications Specialist