Monday, Mar. 30, 2015 (Halifax, NS) – The Halifax Regional Municipality is advising residents that it is no longer safe to be on frozen lakes and ponds as there is noticeable thin ice and open water in many lakes across the region.

This time of year, rising temperatures and snow cover on frozen bodies of water can increase the ice melt significantly each day. Residents are asked to take safety precautions for themselves and their families by avoiding any further recreation activities on frozen lakes and ponds, including walking, snowmobiling and skating.

The municipality is also advising that its ice thickness testing program has concluded for the 2014-15 winter season. Each year as conditions allow, the municipality provides weekly reports based on visual and physical assessments of ice thickness of more than 100 lakes in the Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Prospect, Harrietsfield, Hubley, Timberlea and Cole Harbour areas.

For more information on ice safety visit www.redcross.ca/what-we-do/swimming-and-water-safety/swimming,-boating-and-water-safety-tips/ice-safety.

Source: Release