Rain Event Strikes North Battleford

Flooding pictures from the rain event.

On July 22, North Battleford was struck by a massive hailstorm that caused damage and flooding throughout the city. Residents reported almost 50 mm of rain within an hour, with a grand total of 67 mm for the day. Mayor Ian Hamilton declared a state of emergency as reports flooded in. This event is one demonstration of how run-off can be caused by extreme amounts of rain. Should there be too much fertilizer on lawns, the excess can be carried off in this overland flow. More pictures will be posted as we receive them.

NSRBC Makes a Splash at Outreach Events

Last week saw us out at events in Lloydminster, North Battleford, and Prince Albert. We were at the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre on Tuesday, handing out frisbees and showing off our surface water display model. You could have caught us at the Battleford Wildlife Federation Nature Centre Wednesday as well. Also exciting was our attendance of the 2010 Kidz Fest in Prince Albert. Lots of kids and their parents dropped by to check out our water models and pick up lovely NSRBC stickers. Students from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority were on hand at these events as well, dispensing sage advice and constructing model aquifers with the kids. All in all, these events were a success. Check us out in last Friday's Meridian Booster as well!

The kids loved these two entertainers on the main stage at Kidz Fest
Event Co-ordinator Mathew Corrin shows off the surface water model to fascinated youngsters.

Really?!

That was a common response at our events last week any time we told someone that water entering storm drains flows untreated into the water supply. Last week's public outreach events highlighted a gap in the average citizen's knowledge about water treatment. The general feeling was that there needs to be some sort of treatment for this water, be it settling ponds or other methods. This could be a call for municipalities to take more steps to treat storm water, but until then, people will have to stick to keeping chemicals out of the storm drains.