Once a month in spring and winter, water monitoring technician alberta environment And protected areas travel high into Alberta’s alpine to assess how much snow will move downstream during the spring runoff season.
“We would like to be above average, so we can fill the reservoirs so more water can flow downstream,” technologist Dennis Rollag said during a flight over the mountains in April.
Technicians fly over a vast mountain range to hand-test 10 sites – where only wildlife normally roams.
Working in pairs with a chartered helicopter pilot, researchers travel deep into the backcountry, measuring the snow for depth and density.
Technologists had to wade through the snow, sometimes requiring cross-country skis to avoid sinking into the mud.
He used a tube to check the height of the snow. Each station is tested several times to ensure that the readings are correct.
“We have snow trails that are in the exact same spot. “A lot of them are here in the Banff area, where they’ve lived for over 70 years,” Rollag said.
The data collected is used by operational staff for reservoir level and other water management.
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It is also used for flood forecasting.
Between different sites, the conclusion is mostly the same: Despite recent snowfall, snowfall in the Bow Valley is still about 20 percent below normal for this time of year.
“I think we were at about 60 percent before the snowfall in March. So, we were really underpowered,” Rollag said. “But we expect most of the snowfall to occur in the spring.”
It comes as Alberta entered into a historic water-sharing agreement this spring, anticipating severe drought conditions and the possibility of water restrictions and fire bans throughout the summer months.
“Higher snowpack will definitely give us more water to put into reservoirs. There are very few of them,” Rolag said.
The Alberta government is also taking the additional step of collecting snow samples this year, which will be used for isotope testing.
“Isotopic analysis will help characterize isotopic signatures of ice so that we can try to identify the ice melt component in groundwater recharge and surface runoff. Essentially, it helps us understand the hydrological cycle in alpine environments, and how much time water spends in different parts of the cycle,” the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas said in a statement.
Snowpack monitoring will continue through June. Most snowfall in Alberta typically occurs during the spring months.
-Adam McVicar, with files from Global News
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