Flooding could delay opening of Wapiti Regional Park

By Bryan Eneas

Flooding has caused the opening date for the Wapiti Valley Regional Park to be pushed back.

The site is typically open for camping and other activities on the May long weekend, according to Mark Anderson, the park’s winter manager.

This year, he said flooding from the Saskatchewan River has pushed the date back by a few weeks.

“Our rental cabin, it’s under the water, probably won’t be able to run that this summer,” Anderson said, “Once the water goes down none of the chalet or the hill will take any damage.”

Water also got into the park’s maintenance shop, but Anderson said the equipment was removed prior to the flooding so nothing was damaged. He said some campsites will need to be cleaned up once the water level drops.

Anderson said playground structures at the campsites had likely been damaged by ice flowing down the river. He noted the park is insured against flood damage.

“It takes a little bit of working around, but most of it will be covered,” Anderson said, adding he needs the water level to drop in order to assess all the damage.

The seasonal manager recommended people watch either the Tourism Saskatchewan website or the regional park’s social media pages in order to remain updated on the situation.

Anderson said this is the second time in the last five years flooding like this has occurred at the Wapiti Valley Regional Park.