Heavy rains up country are making their way downstream and leading the B.C. River Forecast Centre to issue a high streamflow advisory for the lower Fraser River on Wednesday and Thursday.
Water levels are expected to peak six metres at the Mission gauge at around noon Wednesday and into early Thursday.
That should be just a bit higher than the 5.85 metres reached a few weeks ago. "We're keeping an eye on everything our area," said district spokesperson Fred Armstrong.
Daily dike patrols have also resumed and staff are watching a fast flowing stretch of the Fraser from Albion ferry to Haney Wharf.
"So far, we've had no issues."
Armstrong listened to a conference call by the River Forecast Centre and Environment Canada Tuesday and said another peak could hit the river a few days from now.
All of last winter's snow pack has melted, he added.
The web link for the Mission Gauge is http://www.wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/graph/graph_e.html?stn=08MH024 and you can add this to your ‘favourite sites’ in your web browser to allow you to check the levels easily.
The 2011 ‘freshet’, the term used to describe the annual snow melt for the Fraser River watershed, has been abnormal due to the cool weather this spring. The result of the cooler weather is that river levels at the Mission Gauge have been higher than normal for this time of year, however the water levels and flow rates should start to move to seasonal levels in the next few weeks. Rainfall in the Upper Fraser Valley generally takes between three and four days to pulse through to the Lower Mainland.