Things seemed relatively quiet around Swan River last weekend, considering the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition didn’t take place. The annual event was called off this year by the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society due to the ongoing natural disaster recovery around the Swan Valley as a result of the historic flooding this spring and summer. It remains to be seen whether the grandstand and rodeo arena will see any use in the summer of 2026.

Now that much of the floodwaters have receded, the long, arduous process of cleaning up the damage to homes and properties continues. Pictured here, the contents of a home on River Park Drive in Swan River sits in a heap on the front lawn of the property. 

Now that the Swan Valley has finally settled into proper spring, flowers are sprouting and nature is flourishing. Pictured here, a few wild crocuses show their faces to the sky in the Cowan Wayside Park.

The Petro-Canada C-store owned by Sapotaweyak Cree Nation in Swan River started a bit of a fill-up frenzy last Friday (May 8) when they decided to drop their price for Regular gasoline down to 150.9c/L for four hours in the middle of the day. Drivers took full advantage of the 35c/L or more discount by lining up down the block to top up their tanks. Pictured here, Danny Chartrand pumps fuel into the vehicle of one of the patient patrons.

With the weather finally warming up enough to let the meltwater loose, the Swan Lake watershed has been saturated and the river systems have been flooding their banks. While some houses in the area packed some precautionary sandbag walls, there have been no reports of major housing damage as of yet. Pictured here, Dvorak Park on Duncan Crescent is inaccessible to those without tall galoshes or hip waders as the Swan River flows faster and higher than normal.

The snow plows, tractors, loaders, snow shovels and snow blowers continue to be in active duty mid-way into April, with a major dump of snow landing on the Swan Valley Tuesday and Wednesday (April 7 and 8). Environment Canada estimated an additional 30 cm had accumulated on the ground by Thursday (April 9) – totalling as much as 64 cm – accompanied by gusts as fast as 59 km/h. Despite several days of melting temperatures and the beginnings of spring flooding, the area is forecasted to receive as much as another 13 cm later this week. Pictured here, crews continue to clear the temporary snow median on Fifth Avenue North that still remained on Monday morning five days after the flurries ended.