The city monitors the ice on three lakes, but the 27 storm ponds throughout Lethbridge are not tested. You can even see signs that say “no skating,” but still there are footprints frozen in ice, leading to a hockey net in the middle of the pond.
“We don’t know what kind of vegetation or particular matter that could be in them and we don’t know how thick the ice is… We just can’t test them all there’s too many of them,” Kevin Jensen, parks and operations manager, said.
There are many things to consider when evaluating ice safety, such as the presence of standing water, the amount of freezing that’s occurred, snow cover and thickness.
Changing weather conditions in the Lethbridge area mean ice thickness needs to be monitored weekly.
“When a chinook comes in it melts the ice very quickly especially with the wind, if the water opens up and there’s an open piece of water it will start eroding the ice very quickly,” Brendon Pyne, team leader with Lethbridge Water Rescue, said.
At last check, none of the three bodies of water tested were safe.
Chinook Lake, Henderson Lake and Nicholas Sheran Lake are all just over six inches thick. To walk on it, the city wants it close to 10 inches thick.
“Just try to stay off the ice right now, until the city gets the signs out,” Pyne said.
The water rescue team will do animal rescues but pets, no matter how small, should not go on the ice.
The city says if someone does falls into the ice, call 911 first. Don’t go out on the ice to help the person, but use long objects to try to reach out to them.
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