Calgary rivers to swell as city releases water from Glenmore dam

If the rivers in Calgary look a little high today,don't panic.

The city is conducting a controlled release of water from the Glenmore Reservoir, which will increase the flow in the Elbow River and in turn theBow River,downstream of Fort Calgary.

The release is being done to confirmpreliminary findings that the river bed depths and flow rates of the Elbow River in the Mission area have changed. The test will help the city calibrate the flow capacity for the area from 22nd Avenue to 25th Avenue.

City crews will be monitoring the effects of the testfrom 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. when the test is completed.

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Frank Frigo,theCity of Calgary's lead river engineer, said it's allpart of normal preparations for the flood season, which generallygoes from May 15 to July 15.

"What Calgarians are going to see is the water level rise by about a metre, so by about threeor so feet in most places," he said.

He said the levels will be "significantly less than any actual flood event would trigger."

The water will be high enough to impact pathways along the Elbow, however, so people and pets should stay away from the river edge, the city says.

Frigosaid low-lying paths, such as thoseadjacent to Lindsay Parkand under 25th Avenue S.W. will be closed during the release.

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