The Mighty Fraser is losing steam after several weeks of rising waters.
The B.C. River Forecast Centre ended a high streamflow advisory for the lower Fraser River on Monday, July 2. The Fraser River reached a peak level of 6.25 metres at Mission on July 1, but had dropped to 5.97 metres by the next day.
"Although the river is still a bit high, it is not at levels of concerns," said Dave Jones, the city's manager of emergency management. "For the boating community, there is still a lot of debris in the river."
The B.C. River Forecast Centre states that flows on the lower Fraser River are expected to continue to recede through the week, and are expected to remain below levels of concern.
Jones said the threat around high water has ended and river levels will begin to return to normal. Jones said the only impacts of high water in New Westminster were some backing up of storm drains, and some water in underground parkades at the Quay.
"Those are normal places for high water," he added. "That happens all the time. They were designed that way."
In the days ahead, city staff will begin to remove temporary measures that have been placed in low-lying areas of the city, in case they were needed to be used to address flooding. Signs alerting residents to be cautious around the river will also be removed.
Jones said staff will meet for a debriefing to discuss the city's response to the 2012 high water situation in B.C. He looks at the recent high water response as a "learning opportunity" that serves the city well.
"It reinforces our bonds with other agencies," he added. "We have already had good relationships but it only gets better."
