No Go For The Bow...

[bcubed]

Those hoping to enjoy warm weather rafting on the Bow and Elbow rivers this summer will have to keep waiting.

Officials say it will be weeks before Calgary's rivers open up for recreational use. The fire department still needs to assess the safety of the rivers and riverbanks — and what they find will determine when the rivers open.

 

"We know there's going to have to be stability work done on a number of the banks on the river, so the reality is we're a long distance right now from being able to say it's safe to be on the rivers or that it's safe really to be on the riverbanks," said Bruce Burrell, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA).

 

In some cases, fire crews will have to walk sections of the riverbanks to assess unsafe conditions or to remove a tangled mass of fallen trees and brush, Burrell said.

 

 

Didn't know that fire crews were adequately trained in hydrology and geology to assess bank structure. They can't keep the recreational anglers off, but they will keep the launches shut. Not good.

[DaveJensen]

No offense, but this is a very good thing. Your average person simply does not know enough about water safety and bank stabilization. When it comes right down to it, we have to remember that we are part of a functioning society and even though we as fly fishers know a thing or two doesn't mean the other 99% of the real world does. This is about risk management and time/resource management. It is FAR better to keep launches and accesses closed to the avg water IQ individual than to have to do a rescue every other day while those resources could be used far more advantageously in other areas of flood recovery. I hate to say it, but even your avg fly fisher would very quickly get themselves into a pickle with the way some of those banks have been eaten. Hopefully people respect the process and we don't find new roads driving around barricades driven by fly fishers, causing new erosion channels.

 

Sometimes we simply have to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and accept that the world isn't going to line up with how we'd like it to be. Is the short term conflict worth it? Time is all that is needed and things will be back to how we hoped them to be.

 

Cheers

[bcubed]

Your average person also does not simply know enough about defensive driving, etc, yet we allow them on Deerfoot without batting an eye. Stupidity is not cured by hand-holding

 

Wonder how you would feel about it if you didnt have Fortress to fall back on....

[Jayhad]

How do they plan to enforce this? There is no CPS presences on the river anymore and the fire department doesn't have the power to write tickets and the state of emergency was ended last thursday.

 

I'll be drifting pretty darn soon.

 

This might be one of the dumbest things they have come up with, The Bow river is closed but you can drive 40 minutes out of the city and walk any river or stream..... ya safety

[bcubed]

Jay, getting your trailer around locked gates is a bit of an issue...

[Jayhad]

Bcube, you are correct gates are locked at some launches, typically ones I never use.

[bcubed]

right, the great 'bow you don't [care to] know'...

[WoollyBuggered]

Didn't know that fire crews were adequately trained in hydrology and geology to assess bank structure. They can't keep the recreational anglers off, but they will keep the launches shut. Not good.

Trained enough to prevent Darwin Awards

[Vagabond]

Was at Mallard Point cpl days ago to check out the carnage....gate is locked with lil yellow sign stating "Area closed due to hazardous flood conditions blah blah blah......."

That said,in my short ten minute return trip from end of Canyon Meadows to remains of Douglasdale pedestrian bridge,I encountered 1/2 dozen cyclist,2-3 dog walkers,and a handful of others walking?

So wtf??Is it just the parking area that's closed??

[troutlover]

if you do go out be super careful. I waded some back channels last night and they go from 12 inches to 8 feet deep in one step. take a stick with you and probe ahead before you take a step. Also stepped on some sand and one leg sunk up to my hip........ use caution.

[angler]

Vagabond : Just people who feel that the signage does not apply to them, sort of like the 'entitlement' the senators feel