City launches internal safety review of drainage pond after teen's death

The City of Edmonton has launched an internal review of safety measures at a north-end drainage pond where a teenage girl died on the weekend after jumping in the water to rescue a dog.

Khrystyna Maksymova, 14, jumped into the pond at 76th Street and 179th Avenue on Saturday.

She was reportedly a strong swimmer but became caught in the mud. Emergency crews pulled her from the water and she was immediately put on life support, but died in hospital the next day.

The pond is easily accessible but is not intended for recreation; it's one of 183 throughout the city built to control flooding, and there are signs around the ponds warning of danger.

The city's drainage department said it is now reviewing the safety measures in place at the pond in the Chrystallina Nera neighbourhood.

Stormwater ponds, on average, are inspected 12 times a year, the city said Tuesday in a news release. Water levels, bank erosion and signs are among the things inspected during such visits.

The city sent a crew to the stormwater pond in Chrystallina Nerato on Monday to determine if there were any safety problems, the city said.

"Crews visually inspected the water level, the vegetation and water quality, bank erosion, signage and the drainage operations equipment such as outfalls. All were determined to be normal."

The city urged Edmontonians to remember that stormwater ponds are part of the drainage system, and asked residents to stay away from the water and marsh areas.

A need for more signs

Dale McCartney, a member of a construction team building a house across from the pond, said a city safety review is a good idea.

"I think there should be more signage out," he said. "You'd think there'd be a little bit more, especially because it's a growing neighbourhood, lots of families."

McCartney was working Saturday, but went for lunch around the time of the incident. When he came back shortly after 2 p.m., he saw police, fire trucks and an ambulance.

Had he been there at the right time, he said, he would have gone into the water to try to help.

"We would have seen exactly where she went in," he said. "If I'd have heard a girl screaming, I would have been down there right away."

McCartney said he had seen the teenager before over the last two weeks.

"Her and her sister were always walking dogs," he said. "I see a lot of people walking the path and riding their bikes."

'Have to be aware of the risks'

This isn't the first time in recent memory someone has died after wading into a stormwater drainage pond.

Two years ago, a toddler drowned in a drainage pond in Morinville.

Urban spaces with lakes and ponds are more common now than they were around 15 years ago and residents living around them should take caution around the water, says Barbara Costache, executive advisor with the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

"Water is beautiful and it's very picturesque, but we have to be aware of the risks," Costache told CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

Stormwater ponds are built for drainage and esthetic purposes, she said, but no one should go in their waters for any reason — not to swim, boat, or float.

These ponds differ from designated swimming ponds and lakes, because drainage ponds can have steep dropoffs and sludge at the bottom that you can sink into.

'Don't go into unknown water, ever'

That said, the ponds shouldn't necessarily be fenced off, Costache added. There needs to be "multiple layers" of protection, including signage and education around water safety, she said.

"Strong swimmers or not, we definitely need people to learn the basic swim survival skills if they do get into trouble," she said. "One is that you don't go into unknown water, ever."

Costache advises against even rescuing anyone from water unless you know the water and the risk of entering it.

There were 56 drowning deaths in Alberta in 2013, according to most recent data from the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Drowning trends and demographics are shifting across Canada, Costache said. But drowning deaths are rising for those 65 years old and up.

"Where the drownings are trending is in regard to recreation, and a lot of swimming drownings," she said."Having swimming skills doesn't give you immunity to drowning in any way."