LAC LA BICHE - After almost a year of near-constant drought conditions that sparked concerns about wildfires as well as poor growing conditions for local agricultural producers, the past month in the Lakeland region has been anything but dry.
And while the last two weeks of near constant drizzle or rainfall may have slowed down some grass-cutting and made a few trails muddy, local experts are cautioning the public from thinking the rain has put an end to larger concerns.
Colby Lachance, the area information officer for the Lac La Biche Forest Area, said according to provincial weather stations in the Rich Lake and Wandering River areas, the region received an average of 20 millimetres of rainfall from May 21 to June 4. In some parts of the region, the measurements were as high as 35 mm over the same time, while some areas were in the mid-teens, depending on the weather patterns of the very unsettled weather that has been in the region.
Rainfall of any amount over the two-week period, she said, has helped to minimize the wildfire danger. But, she said,when the warm and dry conditions return, it will raise the fire danger once again to high or higher.
“The rain is a relief for the time being – but summer is not over, and we will see how the conditions change and react as needed,” Lachance told Lakeland This Week.
Still dry below
Despite this steady rain, there is still very little moisture in the soil, says Al Bertschi, an instructor in the Environmental Technologist program at Portage College.
“We haven’t actually received that much moisture; it’s just a little every day, so it seems to be a lot,” he said, explaining that lower than average snowfall in the past winter season is continuing to have an effect – despite the recent rainfall.
Looking at current lake levels, Bertschi said, much more precipitation is needed ... and this includes rain as well as snow in the winter months. Snow moisture accounts for one third of the prairie moisture. Therefore, winters with no snow do not help to build soil moisture levels.
These light rains that the Lac La Biche region has been receiving, he explained, while they are maintaining or sustaining vegetation growth, are not improving groundwater or water table levels.
“We have very little soil moisture reserves,” he stated.
The region, he said, is not out of the woods yet with regards to drought conditions and wildfire dangers, although it may seem that way with the cool, damp weather.
“A couple of dry, hot days, and we could be back at high risk of fires,” he stated.
