UPDATE The snow pack north of Kispiox as now fallen to less than 200 SWE. The Skeena River is on a continuing downward trend. The forecast is for continuing warm dry weather. This as of 10:30 pm Sunday, June o9, 2013. The situation seems a bit dire for the Skeena Creek.

The Skeena River, as we predicted over two months ago, has fallen again to the lowest level ever recorded for this time since the Government has been recording the water flows.

The snow pack in the mountains is now gone and without the rain we are experiencing this week, (along with the rain we pray for in the future), the Skeena River level would fall even more dramatically.

At 9 am this morning, June 8, 2013, the level of the Skeena River measured at Usk has fallen below 6 meters. This is the lowest the river has ever been recorded for the same time period.

During the start of this warm spring, the beginning of the winter snow melt, the Skeena was already at the lowest ever recorded measurement. The snow pack in the mountains was also at the lowest ever recorded heights. This combination, with the increasingly warm weather had us write and prepare the public for the humorously renaming of the Skeena River to the Skeena Creek.

It isn't funny anymore.

The forecast for this weekend is continuing rain however the prediction for next week appears to see a drying trend.

A Tsimshian/Gitxsan elder relates a story from many years ago when the salmon had to spawn in the salt water as the Skeena was too dry for the fish to reach any fresh water spawning grounds.

If the river level continues to fall as it has been this past week we may get a chance to re-live an ancient account.

Or we could get out our drums and beat more rain out of the skies!