Rising water levels on the North Saskatchewan River following heavy Alberta rainfall are prompting Husky Energy to halt cleanup efforts on the river.

A spokesperson for the energy company says a number of boats and booms being used to cleanup last month’s oil spill — which saw up to 250,000 litres of oil mixed with a lighter hydrocarbon spill into the river near Maidstone, Sask. — have been removed and that work on the shoreline will be paused for safety reasons until the water recedes.

Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency is warning flows on the river could peak at 1,200 cubic metres per second — six times the normal flow rate for this time of the year — because of heavy rains in areas west of Edmonton earlier this week.

Water levels could rise roughly two metres, the agency says.

“It’s not overly significant flow for the system as a whole, but for this time of year, it’s quite high,” the agency’s Patrick Boyle said.

“We’re not expecting any substantial out-of-channel flows, or to cause any flood damage, but it’s something to definitely be aware of.”

Peak levels are expected in the Battlefords on Sunday and in Prince Albert late Monday or early Tuesday.

Prince Albert officials say they’re not worried about flooding. On Wednesday, the city lifted all water restrictions put in place after the oil spill.

The Husky spokesperson expects the shoreline cleanup to be completed prior to early winter freezing, despite the delay from increasing water flows. He says 73 per cent of the spilled oil has so far been recovered.

--- based on a report from CTV Prince Albert’s Rebekah Lesko