As snow continues to fall on southern Ontario and bodies of water continue to find themselves further iced over, the Grand River Conservation Authority is warning that flooding in the watershed could be particularly severe this spring.
The watershed’s snowpack is at its highest level in approximately 30 years, the organization said Thursday in a press release.
“The overall flood risk is high this spring,” GRCA water resources engineer Stephanie Shifflett said in the release.
“A rapid melt or a rapid melt in combination with rainfall will result in very high runoff (and) high river flows.”
Lake Erie, into which the Grand River flows, is currently under a significant cover of ice.
As a result, the GRCA says, ice from the Grand River could jam at the mouth of the river, flooding the Dunnville area.
That exact outcome was seen in 2009, when a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker was brought in to clear a channel in the lake and river.
With debris from December’s ice storm littering the watershed, the GRCA warns, there is the potential for trees and branches to jam culverts and bridges, resulting in localized flooding.
Localized ice jams, which can cause sharp and sudden increases in water levels, are also possible.
Communities most at risk from flooding due to ice jams could include Grand Valley, West Montrose, New Hamburg, Ayr, Paris, Brantford, Cayuga and Dunnville, the agency says.
