While this winter’s mild temperatures could cause problems around local shorelines, officials with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA) say it may also mean less flooding in the spring.
Chatham-Kent and the surrounding area have seen very little snowfall this year due to milder temperatures, resulting in minimal accumulation on the ground.
Jason Wintermute, manager of watershed and information services with LTVCA, said most big floods in the spring are driven by a combination of rain and existing snowpack.
“The rain melts the snow and that combination of the melted snow and the rain produces the really big flushes that come down the river,” he said. “The big spring melt that would cause flooding… we’re less likely to see something like that because we don’t have as much stored snow.”
Wintermute said while heavy rainfall events could still cause flooding in some areas, area residents will likely see smaller high-water events throughout the spring.
Lake and river shoreline areas, on the other hand, could see increased erosion due to a lack of ice coverage resulting in increased wave activity.
“Wave action can reach those shoreline areas and cause erosion during the winter, whereas those areas would [normally] have a reprieve from erosion for the duration that it was frozen over,” said Wintermute.
Wintermute added that the milder weather has also prevented the ground from freezing, causing an increase in soil runoff in lakes and rivers.
“That sediment carries nutrients and other things with it out into the lakes,” he said. “That could potentially trigger things such as algae blooms.”