With the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA) calling for another spring of massive runoff, local municipalities are preparing for the onslaught.
Within the City of Humboldt, crews are already clearing out snow from alleys, laneways and drain ditches, in preparation for a massive spring melt.
They are also getting thawing equipment ready, should a storm sewer or drainage culvert be frozen with ice.
The WSA had asked local municipalities to advise residents to reduce the risk of flooding on their own properties, and the City as well as local RMs are doing so.
Those preventative measures include:
Removing snow from around homes and clearing channels of ice and snow to allow meltwater to drain away from the home and its foundation more effectively.
Clearing ice, snow and debris out of gutters, downspouts, rain barrels and splash pads.
Ensuring downspouts are extended so that they discharge rain and meltwater away from the home by at least two metres.
Checking to make sure the sump pump is working properly in homes.
In the City of Humboldt, if a home was constructed with a bypass switch, residents are asked to ensure the switch is in the correct position to discharge water overland and not into the sanitary sewer system.
If a home was constructed with a sump pump that discharges into the sanitary sewer, the City is strongly encouraging residents to make arrangements with a plumber to change this. Homeowners may be eligible for a grant to help offset the cost of this work.
If sewer backups have been a concern for homeowners in Humboldt, they are asked to consider installing a sewer backwater valve. They may be eligible for a grant to help offset the cost of this work.
The City of Humboldt had a few reminders for residents when they are moving snow on their property this spring. Don't pile snow on a neighbour's property, city streets or right of ways, alleys, public space or ditches. City bylaws restrict these activities, and violating a bylaw may result in a fine.
City residents are encouraged to contact City Hall, Public Works or the Emergency Line at 306-231-4993 if a water main break, sewage backup or surface flooding is threatening their home.
Rural
The upcoming spring melt is a big concern in local rural municipalities, including the RM of Humboldt and the RM of Three Lakes. Areas of both RMs are expected to receive well-above normal runoff this spring.
Things will be much worse if there is a sudden thaw, indicated RM of Humboldt Reeve Jordan Bergermann.
The RM of Humboldt extends around the City of Humboldt, in all directions.
The closer we get to the date of April 1 without warm weather, the more sudden the thaw is likely to be, which will be worse than a slow melt would be, Bergermann noted.
"That's the concern of the Water Security Agency across the province," he told the Journal. "That if the thaw is delayed, the impact is going to be worse."
The RMs of Humboldt and Three Lakes have both seen springs with massive amounts of runoff. While things were close to normal in 2012, in the years preceding, including 2011 and 2010, fields, ditches and farmland were all extremely wet.
Waldsea Lake Regional Park, located just a few miles northwest of Humboldt, was closed in 2011 - all the cabins, power lines and everything else were removed before spring thaw - in order to allow for runoff from Houghton and Deadmoose lakes, located further to the north, to flow into the Waldsea basin instead of into Lenore Lake, in order to protect the fish life in that lake. Waldsea, Deadmoose and Houghton lakes are all saltwater lakes, while Lenore Lake is mostly freshwater.
This year, the lakes north of Humboldt are down about 12 inches from their record depth, Bergermann said, so there is some room in them for some runoff.
Farmland in the area was a little drier heading into the winter than it had been for the past few years, so that puts them in a bit better shape, he noted.
"But the threat looms," he said.
New snow falling every other day, it seems, is just adding to the expectations of high runoff. The additional snowfall is really adding up, Bergermann indicated.
The RMs will basically have to just see what happens when snow finally starts to melt to know what they need to do.
"We're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best," he said.
As an RM, there's not much they can do ahead of thaw other than advise residents how to protect their homes, like moving snow three to four feet away from foundations.
Their first concern, Bergermann said, is flooding basements. Moving the snow away from houses will make a difference in how well we can receive a wet spring, he noted.
Clearing around basements, and even clearing roofs - all of that will matter when things finally start to melt, he said.
All the RM can really do when it comes to the big issues like flooded roads and farmland is stay on top of the situation as it plays out, Bergermann noted, and make decisions as needed.
"If anything floods, we just have to watch," he said.
The moratorium on ditching is still in place, he added, so neither farmers nor the RM can use ditches to get water off of fields.
To a great extent, he noted, what they do as an RM will be decided by the WSA, or in consultation with the WSA.
Further north, in the RM of Three Lakes, dealing with flooding in the spring is nothing new.
"This has been ongoing for many years already," smiled Reeve Allen Baumann.
They will be watching to see if they have to breach some roads again, he noted.
That's what they had to do in 2011.
"For a while, you couldn't get there from here," he remembered.
The Mosely grid road was one that they breached in 2011, which cut off direct travel between Middle Lake and St. Brieux.
Many of the roads going north were all cut open, he said, to allow water to flow through them instead of washing the road out. It's easier to repair a cut road than one washed away.
The lakes north of Humboldt, Baumann is sure, will be full again. He expects them to rise to previous high levels this spring.
The spring of 2012, he noted, started off as not a bad one for his RM, without a lot of runoff. However, they got enough rain last year that it added up and things aren't as dry as they could be.
He agreed with Bergermann - there's not a lot for an RM to do until things start to melt. "We've gone through it in years gone by... it's wait and see."
Last fall, he added, they shored up the sides of some roads, including the rangeline road between Frog and Middle lakes, to try and keep water from running over it in the spring.
The experts say that a slower melt means it will be easier to keep ahead of problems. Fast or slow, Baumann expects things to be wet this spring.
It would be nice, he added, if it would stop snowing.
"I think everyone would like that," he laughed.
