The water levels on the rivers continue to decrease.

The RMWB held a virtual town hall on Thursday where they answered questions from the public while also giving an update on the flood.

Scott Davis, Director of Emergency Management, noted the water levels are down around 4 metres on the Athabasca River and between 1 and 1.5 metres on the Clearwater River.

The ice jam is also 9.5 km long, down from the 25 km on Monday.

Davis says even though levels are decreasing, we’re not out of the woods just yet.

“These areas still pose a risk due to fluctuating water levels, scattered debris, and damaged infrastructure.”

There’s currently no timeline on when re-entry into the impacted areas will happen.

RMWB Committed To Waterways

Development in Waterways will continue despite the flood.

That’s according to Jamie Doyle, RMWB’s Chief Administrative Officer, who says they have no plans on abandoning the community.

Some have suggested moving away from the neighbourhood due to the risks around the rivers. This was also brought up during the early recovery efforts from the Horse River wildfire.

“We are gonna keep building Waterways as we move forward with the flood mitigation program and, of course, we’re always monitoring our development activities,” said Doyle.

They’re not considering buyouts for Waterways properties.

Meanwhile, Mayor Don Scott says he’s personally talked with the Prime Minister about potential flood mitigation funding.

He received a call from Justin Trudeau on Wednesday where they discussed the impact from the flood and possible needs to help with the recovery.

“We asked for money for the evacuees, the potential of that money flowing through the Red Cross,” added Scott. “We also talked about flood mitigation money for the future.”

At this time, no committment has been made from the federal government.

More information about the flood can be found on the RMWB’s website.