Those who live and work along the Saint John River are keeping a close eye on water levels, as the river reached flood stage just east of Fredericton Tuesday and warnings were issued for other communities.

The Environment Department says levels reached 4.26 metres at Gagetown, N.B., Tuesday morning, with a peak expected at 4.4 metres over Wednesday and Thursday. Flood stage is considered 4.0 metres in that community.

Meanwhile, the capital city of Fredericton and rural community of Jemseg are under a flood warning. Flood watches were declared for areas around Saint John and Oromocto, while five other locations had advisories in place.

Parts of the Riverfront Trail in downtown Fredericton were closed Tuesday, but longtime residents say water levels aren’t a concern yet.

“We’ve seen a whole lot worse than this,” said Kim Chalmers.

It prompted others to question why more can’t be done to mitigate the annual spring floods.

“It’ll only take really bad flood, a disaster to really have a huge impact on the city,” said Jean Paul Robicheau.

Water levels in the city are expected to drop beginning Thursday. Still, Justin McGuigan, an emergency measures specialist with the city, is encouraging residents to be vigilant and have a 72-hour emergency kit ready.

“When we find ourselves in a situation, in an unplanned situation where city resources might get stretched based on the sheer number of responses or responsibilities that we’re trying to attend to at any one time, we need for folks to be able to have the resources that they need to remain in some form of self-sufficiency for the first few days,” said McGuigan.

A spokesperson for the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization said water levels should begin dropping by Friday if the weather remains dry and cool. But Paul Bradley warned that water volumes could easily spike again.

“As long as there’s snow on the ground somewhere and precipitation, all it takes is the combination of those things flooding into the system that’s going to raise the levels again,” Bradley said.

–with a file from The Canadian Press