Trail damage unknown as North Saskatchewan River continues to run high

A number of dirt trails in the Edmonton river valley remain closed as the North Saskatchewan River continues to run high.

As of Friday afternoon, the river was running at 992 m³/s (cubic metres per second), down from the peak of 1,400 m³/s on Wednesday night. Before waters started rising on Monday, the stream flow was at 250 m³/s.

READ MORE: North Saskatchewan River peaks overnight, but high water dangers remain

Even with the decrease in flow levels, the city says low-lying dirt trails are susceptible to erosion and damage.

“The typical types of damage that we can observe from a high-water event would be deposition of various debris,” Juanita Spence with City of Edmonton Parks and Facilities said.  “The trees and things we see going down the river, they land somewhere and sometimes that can be on our trail infrastructure. We also see a lot of silt depositions so we can get quite a thick build up of silt. Then we also face potholing, washout of gravel and some erosion channels that can appear on impacted trails.”

Damage expectations along Gold Bar Park to Capilano Park trail, Emily Murphy Park to Kinsmen Park trail and the granular trail below the Highlands Golf Course are low.

However, water is still covering the granular path beneath Fort Edmonton Park.

“If we find damage, we wait for the trails to dry out and then we can complete the repairs as required,” Spence said.

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“As the water recedes and we are able to inspect and ensure trail safety, and make sure those banks are not undercut, we will start reopening trails as we are able to.”