Rob: A high streamflow advisory for the Bow River. Some concerns, but nothing too serious at this point in time in the Canmore and Banff areas. It’s a little different story in Exshaw this year though. Many homeowners are seeing an incredible amount of flooding in low lying areas and basements.

Tanya: High groundwater levels are wreaking havoc with homeowners in Exshaw. There’s a lot of concerns that recent flood mitigation on Exshaw Creek may have changed the dynamics of how groundwater flows underneath that community, to the extent that it’s causing additional water to rise up. This is, as of right now, not proven and needs to be investigated for sure. But homeowners are definitely dealing with a tough situation right now and are pumping water out of basements like crazy. We have a really high snow pack this year and groundwater levels are affected by all of the dynamics within that hydrological system. We can see the rivers running high. It is a bit early so we should definitely be keeping an eye on forecast.

Rob:  The Municipal District of Bighorn is asking residents not to pump water into the sewage system. Instead, they have some fire hoses and they’re happy to assist with getting them to people so they can pump into the ditch at the bottom of Pigeon Mountain Drive along Highway 1A.  That’s the preferred method of draining. Get in touch with them if you need a little assistance there, and good luck. I really hope this doesn’t get any more serious for the residents in Exshaw.

Filed under: Exshaw, Mountain Insider