Campgrounds will be busy
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All set for the long weekend, Chelsea Edwards and her daughter Trista of Red Deer and Chelsea' s sister Keeley Edwards and her son Kaleb of Bowden enjoy some shade in their campsite at Red Lodge Park west of Bowden on Thursday. The families were lucky to get a spot in the campground when they pulled up on Tuesday of this week getting one of the last sites available. Many of the campers at the park have paid for the entire week to guarantee a spot for the long weekend.
Red Lodge Provincial Park near Bowden is packed with campers and booked solid for the long weekend despite the risk the adjacent river will rise rapidly.
Alberta Environment issued a high streamflow advisory for South Central Alberta Thursday.
Thanks to the warmer temperatures this week the snowmelt runoff has increased.
Alberta Environment will be monitoring conditions closely along the Little Red Deer River, the advisory said. It’s the river that borders the park.
A high streamflow advisory means that stream levels are rising or are expected to rise rapidly and no major flooding is expected.
Minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
“We’ve been full since Tuesday,” said Red Lodge Park Campground operator Michelle Long.
As of Thursday she was confident the campground was safe.
Certainly history is reassuring.
“We have never ever flooded on the May long weekend in the past,” said Long.
Her uncle ran the campground for the last 12 years, said Long. Her family business ,CMB Camping Ltd., is running it now.
Long said she is keeping an eye on the river, and though it rose about 60 cm in a couple of days, it has remained stable since Wednesday night.
“I am measuring it all the time,” said Long.
There are 100 sites at the campground plus two group camping areas.
Long said the campground has three distinct levels, so that were the worst to happen, the entire campsite would not be flooded all at once.
In June 2007, both the Red Lodge Provincial Park and the Westward Ho Campground east of Sundre were swamped when the Little Red Deer River crested its banks due to heavy rain.
Some areas in both campgrounds had to be closed. But that was nothing like the major flooding that hit Central Alberta in June 2005.
The Westward Ho campground near Sundre was devastated as was the Red Lodge Park campground.
Both areas rebuilt and eventually reopened after that setback.
Nobody could be reached at Westward Ho on Thursday, but a recorded message said the campground was fully booked for the long weekend.
The weather forecast for the weekend is very warm and sunny.
Contact Penny Caster at pcaster@reddeeradvocate.com
COMMENTS
Posted by: westside connection
Date: May-16-2008
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