The phones of some municipal councillors and municipal administrators were heating up last week with frosty phone calls from residents dealing with spring thaw and flooding concerns.
Across the region as temperatures warmed quickly from sub-zero to double-digits above, residents watched quick transitions of roadside ditches going from snow-covered and frozen to watery pits that overflowed across roads, yards and driveways. In some cases, isolated flooding of homes and outbuildings were reported. While municipal crews were working to thaw culverts and get water flowing, they were outmatched by Mother Nature's speed.
"Because of the quick thaw last week and this week, crews have been working 14 to 16-hour days to clear culverts and drainage courses," said Lac La Biche County spokesperson Jihad Moghrabi, explaining that four crews of county staff plus two contracted crews have been monitoring more than 1,000 culverts across the municipality. "We also have two county crews fixing washouts and repairing damages."
County contact for concerns
Residents who suffered damages they feel were due to improper drainage coming from municipal reserves or environmental reserves — property recently in the news after hundreds of signs were posted on land adjacent to many rural properties restricting residents' usage of the reserves — can contact the municipality.
Moghrabi said county offices have taken calls from residents in recent days about flooding and thawing concerns.
"We’ve been hearing regularly from residents, and County staff have been working hard to prioritize work based on need and the severity of the situation," he told the POST on Monday as municipal crews continued to clear up plugged drainage areas.
For any resident looking for more information on the municipal thawing services, Moghrabi says the county's main administration line at 780-623-1747 is a good place to start. Routine concerns or questions can also be sent by email to [email protected]
For more serious issues like road washouts or other road condition emergencies, the municipality has a 24 hour emergency line at 780-404-4078.
Lac La Biche County Deputy Mayor Charlyn Moore said she has fielded a few calls from resident concerned about the time it took municipal crews to steam ice-jammed culverts and overflowing ditches. She's also seen first-hand some of the water problems in several of the rural subdivisions in her electoral ward. She took her own photos of ditches in the Young's Beach subdivision, one with a fire hydrant submerged almost entirely. In the days following, the culverts were cleared.
While she's seen the worst of it, and heard from a fair share of residents, she credits municipal crews with doing the best they could with the time and resources they have had. She also knows that with the current economic state, the probability of more resources being available are doubtful.
"If we had more steamers and more staff, we could get more done, of course," said Moore when asked about the week of drainage issues, again crediting crews for their efforts during a busy week. "I think they are doing the best they can. Sure we could do with more equipment, but we already know that we are going to be really tight for dollars this year."
Not all of the solutions to the flooding and drainage problems come from municipal services, however. Moore says residents can plan ahead during the winter months to avoid potential flooding issues as temperatures warm up.
"A big problem comes later from when people were clearing the snow from their driveway. If they pushed it into the ditches, it just adds to that build up later on," Moore told the POST on Monday. "Our residents need to acknowledge that they can be part of the solution.?\"
