SUNDRE — Creek and riverbanks are, as a result of substantial erosion that has occurred over the past year, very unstable and potentially dangerous, said the local director of emergency management.
“Right now, the biggest concern for me is just people getting too close to the water,” said Kevin Heerema, who is also the community peace officer.
The long winter and heavy accumulation of snow, combined with recent rains that increased flows along the Red Deer River as well as Bearberry Creek, have already collapsed portions of trails and deteriorated others, said Heerema on June 2.
“There was white caps in the Bearberry, that’s kind of different!” he said.
“Young kids like to go swimming in the Bearberry — now is definitely not the time for that.”
The stream remains turbid with sediment, and a swimming hole in the creek that’s popular with children is not safe, he said.
“I don’t even know what the condition of that hole would be now, whether it’s been filled in by debris or what. I wouldn’t even try to walk and cross the Bearberry right now,” he said.
“You can get water below the knee even, moving that fast, and it’ll sweep your feet from underneath you and send you downstream.”
So until the flow of water slows down, Heerema says people should maintain a safe distance as a precaution.
“Right now, I really just want to reiterate to folks, to stay away from the banks of the river and the creek,” he said.
“We’ve seen some really big deterioration along those water ways this year already.”
Accompanied by Jim Hall, Sundre’s deputy director of emergency management as well as the municipality’s operations manager, Heerema said he walked along sections of the Red Deer River and Bearberry Creek nature paths “and noted some trails that had been washed out already, and then some significant bank erosion too.
“Definitely the banks are unstable. One misstep, and that water’s moving fast enough to sweep somebody away pretty quickly.”
