With water levels still rising due to melting snow and ice, the Town of Radville has declared a State of Local Emergency. Triangle News called the Radville Town Office to speak to local authorities and got an answering machine notice. “The Town of Radville has declared a State of Local Emergency. All measures are being taken to secure the pump house for water supply. Tonight, being Wednesday, April 13, we will require any sort of volunteers wanting to help. We will be at the water treatment plant at 6 o’clock filling sandbags so if anybody is interested in filling sandbags, you are asked to come to the water treatment plant at 6 o’clock.” said the message.
According to news reports on Wednesday, Mayor of Radville Shirley Cancade said the main areas of concern are the lift station, the area behind Nelson Motors along with houses in that general vicinity. She also asked everyone to stay away from the high risk areas for their safety and everyone else who is involved.
Thursday news reports updated the flooding situation in the town of Radville to stable. That according to Mayor of the Town of Radville Shirley Cancade. “At this time we are at a stable condition. We are continuing to monitor all water coming in and out. Things are looking good right now. The cooler temperatures have slowed things down for us as well.”
Cancade says that a boil water advisory has gone from precautionary to mandatory in the town. She says the town is asking everyone to ration water as much as possible.
A number of homes have been flooded and as of now two homes are in jeopardy by the waters.
According to news reports, as of Thursday, April 14, 40 highways had water running over them across the province and the eastbound lane of Highway #1 near Grenfell is detoured because of water running over the highway. Locally, Highway #49 at Yellowgrass was closed on the evening of April 13 due to flooding.
Coronach residents report the gates of the Cookson Reservoir are open with water flowing through, the first time in many years.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority and Ministry of Health warn that heightened risk of flooding in many parts of the province this spring may pose a threat to private water wells and cisterns used for drinking water sources. Residents who consume water from private supplies are being urged to be alert for signs of flooding which may result in contamination of their water.
As a safety measure during spring runoff, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority is offering free testing of private wells and cisterns used as sources of drinking water that have been potentially impacted by flooding across the province.
Individuals eligible for the no-cost testing of bacteria and nitrate by the Watershed Authority must be using private well water or cisterns as a source of drinking water, suspect the water source has been impacted by heavy run-off or flooding, and they must shock chlorinate the well prior to Authority staff collecting samples. Information on low level shock chlorination and other safety information regarding well contamination is available on the provincial flood advisory website www.saskflood.ca.
People who think their private well may have been contaminated can call the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority at 1-866-837-8420 (1-866-TEST H20) to find out if they are eligible for no-cost testing. The free testing will be available from April 18 to June 1, 2011.
The Ministry of Health recommends that people use an alternate safe water source that has been deemed safe for consuming and cooking if they suspect their well or cistern water has been contaminated.
Unlike private water supplies, public supplies are routinely tested and will be closely monitored in the event of flooding. Residents whose drinking water wells are part of a public water system are advised to contact the owner/operator of that public supply.
trianglenews@sasktel.net
