Water in the Oldman River is reaching levels unseen in years.

Now, City of Lethbridge officials are sounding the alarm over capacity at the water treatment plant.

“We are still producing less water than demand, so we’re drawing down our reservoirs,” said Jason Drenth, GM of wastewater, water and electric utilities for the city.

He says the recent rainfall has made a substantial difference in the river valley.

“On an average day, we see about 40 million litres per day and last night we reached over 100 million litres per day (of) flow. That’s the additional flow just from the rainfall.”

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Drenth says the wastewater plant is noticing stress from the rapid changes.

“We’re seeing very high flows there right now, but the operations are running 24/7. So, they’re able to manage it, but they’re having to take some, what I would call, high-flow procedures.”

Because of this, city officials are asking people to keep any water consumption to essential use only.

“(Things like) cooking, drinking, keeping showers to a minimum. Every drop helps for the time being, until we’re able to produce as much as demand,” said Drenth.

There are safety risks associated with this rainfall, as well.

Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services (LFES) say the speed of water is continuing to increase.

“The river is running about 630 metres cubed per minute right now; that’s an extremely high number for us,” said Charles Schoening, lead of the water rescue team.

He says it’s now important for people to stay away from the unsteady banks.

“Make sure to avoid those areas, stay on solid grounds, roadways, pathways and keeps dogs and children well away from those areas.”

According to the city, the peak of the Oldman River is expected sometime on Wednesday evening.

“Because it’s feeding in from all the tributaries and the rain my take a little longer to taper off in the mountains as well, the high water, the crest will happen well after the rain (is done) in Lethbridge,” said Schoening.

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