A caution sign posted near the Melfort Lagoon ice (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Walking on Thin Ice

Water Security Agency, municipalities caution travellers of thin ice

Jan 8, 2021 | 12:57 PM

Due to continuing milder winter weather in Saskatchewan, the Water Security Agency (WSA) reissued an advisory to ensure the public checks ice thickness on waterbodies before walking, snowmobiling, or driving across them.

Some municipalities are also re-emphasizing the message. The City of Melfort put out a thin-ice caution for its sewage lagoons on New Year’s Eve.

Melfort Fire Chief Shaun Stewart said city staff have still spotted footprints and snowmobile tracks on lagoon ice and other bodies of water, despite signage encouraging people not to.

“The lagoons themselves, the water is always moving from one cell to another,” Stewart said. “Sometimes we’re flushing and moving [water] forward and backward. It’s part of the normal, everyday movement of the water in there.

“Sometimes the water is actually lower than the ice… there’s an air gap in there. It never gets a chance to fully become a thick layer of ice whatsoever with the movement going on. With the chemicals and breakdown that occurs in there, it’s going to inhibit the structure of some thick ice in there as well.”

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While not at the lagoon, snowmobile tracks are still apparent at other water bodies in Melfort, despite the milder temperature (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

Stewart added the warmer temperature Saskatchewan typically sees in January affects ponds and lakes as well, with some portions thinner than others.

The WSA’s guideline for ice travel is at least 10 cm (four inches) for walking, 20 cm (eight inches) for a snowmobile or ATV, 30 cm (one foot) for a car or light truck, and more than 30 cm for a heavy truck.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow