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The Glenmore Reservoir was closed to boaters Thursday as theimpacts of a deluge of rain earlier this week continue to be felt. City of Calgary officials banned recreation users from reservoirafter the water level was dropped Wedensday to accommodate "heavyflow from upstream caused by the recent rainfall," according to anews release issued by the city. The high river flow, increasedfloating debris, and the dirty water that obscures submergedhazards make the reservoir too dangerous for recreation, in thecity's assessment. The prohibition on recreational users will bereviewed daily. Meanwhile, Calgary s rivers are expected to swell over the nextseveral days amid warnings to stay away from the fast-flowing Elbowand Bow and their soggy banks, even as rain lightens today. Runoff from a record mountain snowfall, mixed with more rainforecast along the Rockies Eastern Slopes, will result in risingwaters over the next few days and, depending on how hightemperatures go, continue well into the next several weeks. Banff and Canmore already faced flood watch warnings along the BowRiver on Wednesday, spiking concerns downstream into Calgary. Parts of the Rockies received as much as 10 metres of snow thiswinter, with Sunshine Village boasting the biggest snowfall 1,036 centimetres in its 84-year history. The giant snowpack is expected to cause havoc at some point onCalgary rivers. This week, Parks Canada officials admit, is only the beginning. The rivers in general, both the Elbow and Bow, are rising, sopeople need to avoid them, said Calgary Fire Department spokesmanJayson Doysher. The banks are saturated, and they could give way at any time. Aswell, there s a lot of debris from the storm that s been blowninto the river and we have to be cautious about that, saidDoysher. And while Calgary s overnight storm resulted only in some flashflooding on golf courses, ball diamonds and suburban parking lots,residents west of Calgary battled high rivers and streams all day,erecting barricades and sandbagging. Just west of the city, upstream of the Bow River, road crews usedheavy machinery to build an emergency spillway at Cougar Creek inCanmore to prevent an overflow onto the Canadian Pacific Railwaymain line. The Bow Valley Parkway, or Highway 1A, between Castle Mountain andJohnston Canyon was shut for most of the day, while theTrans-Canada Highway between Golden and Revelstoke, B.C., remainsclosed due to mudslides. Today Banff, Canmore and much of the western half of the provinceremain under a severe rainfall warning, with as much as 80millimetres of rainfall expected. Calgary is forecast to enjoy clear skies today, and someintermittent showers over the weekend along with cool temperatureshovering around 9 C. But record snowfalls in the mountains this winter have Parks Canadaofficials worried that even if rainfall slows, snow will continueto melt and head into Banff, Canmore and eventually into Calgaryover the next several weeks. We ve had a lot of snow in the mountains this year, and thesnowpack is still very high, so we re not out of the woods justyet, said Parks Canada spokesman Brian White. Residents in Banff were busy putting up large concrete barricadesalong the river just past the town s main street, while LakeLouise s Post Hotel was forced to sandbag its property adjacent tothe Bow River. Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has issuedhigh stream flow advisories for parts of southwestern Alberta, withup to 10 to 22 millimetres of precipitation falling overnight toWednesday morning and an additional 50 to 80 mm of precipitationforecast to fall today. Areas around Grande Prairie were callingfor as much as 120 mm. PAGEBREAK Carrie Sancartier, spokeswoman with Alberta Environment, said thatwhile no major flooding events were expected in southern Albertatoday, things can change very quickly. Residents in the South McDougall Flats area near Sundre wereevacuated Tuesday night due to concerns that rising Red Deer Riverwater could wipe out the three main rural roads. It affected 75 permanent residences in the area and 209 residencesat a local campground. City officials have also closed the Glenmore Reservoir torecreational use, with water levels being dropped by the city toaccommodate the expected heavy flow upstream. During high river flow periods, typical at this time of year, waterlevels are lowered to mitigate the potential of any flooding. As a result, boat patrols cannot launch rescue craft, andconsiderable large floating, semi-submerged debris remains in thereservoir. The continued snowmelt is mixing with the more than 60 millimetresof rain Calgary already received over the last two nights, withTuesday night s lightning storm resulting in more than 150 callsto city fire crews, including house fires, lightning strikes, alarmbells and blown-off manhole covers. At the height of the storm, almost every Calgary Fire Departmentvehicle was on the road responding to the large call volume. Flashflooding was spread throughout the city, with some streets andunderpasses impassible for a few hours. McCall Lake golf course saw some of its holes flooded outWednesday, and ball diamonds in Symons Valley were washed out,while parking lots in Harvest Hills and Symons Valley, some balldiamonds and shopping centre parking lots were deluged with hugepuddles. No injuries or major property damage were reported. As well, WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer confirmed 12 flights werecancelled on Wednesday due to the thunderstorm, explaining thatairplanes being in the wrong city and flight crews needing thelegal amount of rest as reasons for the cancellations. With files from Bryce Forbes, Calgary Heraldeferguson@calgaryherald.com. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Docking Connector For IPhone , Flex Cable For IPhone 2G, and more. For more , please visit iPhone Camera Module today!
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