Most of the time the Hodgson family’s property looks like a field, but these days it’s like they have lakefront property.
The flooding on their land east of Prince Albert, just down the Garden River Road has gotten so bad that they can’t use the road.
This is not the first time they’ve had to dig a trench across their road, so the water won’t wash out the whole thing, but this time when they dug the water kept coming, Sidney Hodgson said.
“Water just comes over so we can’t get through it and there’s big gashes and trenches that go across our road, so we had to take down our fence and drive through our fields to get to the bus or to get to town,” Hodgson said.
“That’s fun to do at 12 at night when you get off work.”
The Hodgson family have kept their cars parked in an empty yard on the other side of the flooding.
They drive their quads from home to the vehicles when they want to use them.
Hodgson said they are expecting water levels to keep rising and they aren't alone.
As the spring melt continues there are many areas of the province where authorities are working hard to monitor water levels.
Frank Fox works at the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority and is the supervisor of operations for the Northwest Region. He said he has been at work every day since late March.
Flooding in many rural municipalities in the Prince Albert and surrounding area its overland flow, or spring snow melt, not rising rivers that are causing the problems.
“The snow melts. A little puddle fills and it spills and gets into the next puddle and it fills and eventually you start to run up against developments like farmyards and roads with culverts in them,” Fox said.
When it comes to water flow in the North Saskatchewan River, Fox said it is average for spring.
There is a chance of the river spilling the banks, if ice builds up.
“It may take an hour or two for it to break up and flow. During that time it might push water out into the flood plain of the river,” Fox said.
Another concern in the area is for the Cecil Ferry crossing, upstream of Prince Albert on the North Saskatchewan River.
Fox said when he talked to the department of highways about any implications for the ferry crossing at that location, he was told the ferries are not in the water and they are “high and dry.”
sfroese@panow.com
