When your friends say, “Why don’t you go jump in the river” DON’T!!

Wakamow Valley Authority has received calls from private citizens concerned about youth jumping into the Moose Jaw River from bridges located in Wakamow Valley. Although not illegal and on a hot day the river may seem inviting, this practice poses potential threats. It is about safety and common sense. Margaret Moran, CEO of Wakamow Valley explains, “Due to the floods of the past few years, that have resulted in extensive erosion along the river banks, the river bed has seen quite a bit of silt settling on the river bottom thereby raising the bed and decreasing the river’s depth”.

The Moose Jaw River is not very deep. Jumping from a 20-foot height into the murky water, one would not be able to see what lies below the surface. Moran further explains.

“Coupled with the fact that the river is currently not at full service level, the river is even more shallow than normal.” Depth perception is almost always wrong when it comes to water. Moran further explains that upstream the Moose Jaw River gets much shallower. Water quality is another issue. The Moose Jaw River is not registered as a beach and as such, water quality testing has not be done to ensure the water is safe to swim in.

Wakamow is looking into having Public Health provide an analysis of the water quality to look for bacterial content such as E.coli, blue green algae micro systems toxins and water-borne schistosomatidae, the element that causes swimmer’s itch. While the water is inviting, prolonged swimming in the river may have negative effects for one’s health.