With parts of southern Alberta already flooded, there is growing concern about the big melt on its way down from the mountains.
Officials say the snowpack in the Bow River headwaters is significantly higher than normal.
Testing stations are set up all over the Kananaskis valleys which remotely check precipitation.
But once a month, every winter and every spring, technicians fly over the vast expanse — where generally only wildlife roam — to test the 35 sites by hand.
They use a tube to check the height of the snow. Each station is tested several times to ensure the reading is correct.
“Water is a big issue for southern Alberta,” water quality technician Jon Pedlar said.
“So we’re out here measuring how much is in the headwaters so that operation staff know how much is up here and how much is going to be coming out in the spring so that they can plan for that with operations of the dams and reservoirs.”
This year, the snow is 25 to 35 per cent higher than normal at some of the higher points. At some of the lower elevations, it’s more than double the average for this time of year. Typically by late April, most of the snow has melted.
“The snowpack will never cause major flooding on its own,” Pedlar said. “What it does do is kind of prime the pump for potential flooding when we get a big precipitation event.”
At the end of April, there’s more than two metres worth of snow left to melt in the mountains just west of Calgary.
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