The spring melt has had an immediate flooding impact on highways in and out of the Battlefords.
Warm conditions on Saturday produced the bulk of the activity, with water overflowing right onto the highway from nearby ditches. That prompted a number of highway warnings of poor road conditions from the RCMP.
One such instance was reported on Saturday night just outside the city. Highway 16 saw water overflow onto the highway about seven kilometres east of North Battleford, just beyond the grain terminals.
Both the eastbound and westbound lanes were covered in water. Motorists were urged to slow down as they made their way through the water-covered road that evening.
RCMP reported a similar situation to the west of North Battleford. This time, it was flooding on one of the highway lanes near Maidstone on Highway 16, about three kilometres west of the town.
The initial report came from the RCMP at around 11:20 p.m. Saturday was that the westbound lane of the highway was covered in water, but the eastbound lane remained open and was not affected.
By 11:45 p.m., RCMP reported the westbound lane was closed completely due to flooding and the Ministry of Highways had erected barricades to redirect traffic from Maidstone north on Highway 21 and then west to Highway 303 to Lloydminster.
As of Sunday, the situation had not improved much. RCMP reported at 8 p.m. that Highway 16 was down to one lane of travel, and travelers were urged to drive with caution. The Ministry of Highways was aware of the situation and drivers were urged to check with Highways Hotline for further updates.
According to Highways Hotline Monday afternoon, reduced speed was required in that area and flag persons were in attendance.
There were several other reports of flooding affecting other roads in the Northwest. In Lashburn, a road closure off of Highway 16 was reported.
There was also water on Highway 40 near Cut Knife, as well as localized flooding in fields near Denholm and Maymont over the weekend.
The flooding situation Maidstone experienced this past weekend proved to be so bad that the community declared a state of emergency Saturday night.
According to the Water Security Agency's daily update on April 29, Maidstone, Lashburn and Borden experienced flooding due to the local tributary streams. According to the agency, "warm temperatures produced quick increases in flows on streams in the western watershed."
The agency also identified a risk of flooding in Radisson as well, which was confirmed Monday when that community also issued a state of emergency.
