Hot weather, showers and tributaries already frothing with high water are causing concern among safety authorities, and excitement among hardcore boaters.
The Prince George Jet Boat Association (PGJBA) considers this their annual peak period when high rivers allow boats to get into places that become inaccessible when water levels drop in summer.
But members have been cautioned to steer clear of the areas troubled by erosion. An email has circulated stressing that safety and good neighbourly behaviour were paramount. As the PGJBA is one of the go-to organizations for police and search and rescue, the group's members are also encouraged to be vigilant when out on the water.
"We have members of our association living on the Salmon River [a flood-affected area], and the problem they saw was all the debris come down the river, and the water had to change its course, so that caused problems for properties that never saw problems before," said PGJBA president Shannon Studney on Wednesday.
"I don't think we got all the rain forecasters were expecting, but we got some, so we will see a lot of that water coming down the mountains today and tomorrow."
He said the smaller streams and rivers in the area may be charged, but the two main waterways, the Nechako River and the Fraser River, are still well within seasonal norms.
"The Nechako, we've seen it a lot higher. Some islands are still sticking out that in past years have been covered over in the spring," he said.
"We still have 30 or 40 feet of boat ramp left at the River Road Boat Launch. We know how long the ramp is and how far up it the water comes from year to year, which is another way we know this is a fairly typical year."
News had reached Studney of the near tragedy on the Kiskatinaw River in the Dawson Creek/Taylor area earlier this week, when four people on inner tubes but without life jackets, nearly died when they capsized.
"We wear life jackets in our jetboats, even, but we see floaters going down the river all the time with nothing and we immediately wonder, 'oh gosh, are we going to get a call tonight to go look for your drunken butt?' A lot of times we see them bobbing along in the current not even on an inner tube, just floating on the current and all we can see is their heads sticking out. I consider that pretty stupid."
The PGJBA were called out to three search missions last year: one on Ness Lake and two on the Nechako. All ended without tragedy. Too often, said Studney, their missions are not searches but recovery operations so a grief-stricken family can have better closure with the return of their loved one.
