South Sask. River Peaks

The South Saskatchewan River flows by the red cliff near the town named after them on Thursday. (Photo Alex McCuaig)

It’s been more than a decade since there’s been this much water flowing down the South Saskatchewan River with Thursday reaching another peak in water levels and topping those from earlier in June.

River levels shot up at Medicine Hat over three days starting on June 29 and peaking Thursday.

River levels since the begining of 2026. (Government of Alberta)

Streamflows rose from around 350 cubic metres per second and sitting at a little more than 3 metres deep  Monday morning to running at 1,800 m³/s at more than 6 metres deep.

As of Friday morning, river levels across southern Alberta have begun to fall with streamflows on the South Saskatchewan River hitting 1,700 m³/s.

High streamflow advisories remain in place for the entire Bow River basin and South Saskatchewan River in Alberta but have begun to ease along the Eastern Slopes tributaries feeding into the Oldman River Basin upstream of the waterbody’s namesake dam.

The Oldman dam has seen a drastic turnaround over the past three years, hitting two of its three lowest recorded levels since it was first filled in the mid-1990s to one of its highest levels ever this week.

The reservoir has been running much of the week near, at and even slightly above capacity with downstream discharges reaching 500 m³/s on Tuesday.

The next two largest southern Alberta reservoirs, St. Mary and Lake McGregor, are also at or near capacity. The same is also holding true for Waterton, Milk River Ridge, Lake Newell, Chin and 40-Mile reservoirs.

Municipal officials across the Oldman, Bow and South Saskatchewan river basins are advising residents to beware of potential treacherous conditions on and near waterways.

Medicine Hat’s Great Big Paddle set for this weekend has been cancelled due to river conditions.