MISSISSAUGA – Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) is reminding residents of the dangers near streams, rivers, ponds and lakes this time of year.
CVC urges people to exercise caution and keep family and pets away from the edges of all waterways.
While temperatures have declined since December’s unseasonably warm weather, we are experiencing freeze-thaw cycles and occasional winter storms bringing wet and mixed precipitation.
Fluctuations of temperature and precipitation types can increase runoff and contribute to higher water levels and faster flows in local watercourses, according to a CVC press release.
Once rivers and waterbodies become ice covered, periods of rainfall and snowmelt can result in the weakening, shifting, and melting of that ice cover, making it unsafe, the release adds.
Residents living next to watercourses are encouraged to secure loose objects, such as lawn furniture and watercrafts, that are in the floodplain in preparation for the spring snowmelt and rains that can increase the risk of flooding downstream.
The CVC offers the following tips to stay safe this season:
– keep family and pets away from all bodies of water;
– avoid all recreational activities in or around water, including skating in unsanctioned areas;
– tailor winter outdoor activities to trails at local parks and conservation areas;
– stormwater ponds were not built for ice skating (water levels on these ponds can change due to road salt, snow melt and changing temperatures causing cracks and dangerously thin ice); and
– rescuing another person or a pet from ice is too dangerous.
If you see anyone who has fallen through the ice, call 911.
