Long, hot and dry days have many Okotoks residents getting creative to beat the heat, but that's not easy with an outdoor water ban in Town.

Town Officials are suggesting that folks take their families to one of the many great spots in town to chill out, like the Spray Park and the Crystal Shores Beach House.

Both of which have seen an increase in visitors thanks to this years unusually high temperatures.

Tim Arnholz, Aquatic Supervisor at the Okotoks Rec Centre says, while their numbers at the Spray Park have definitely increased, it's hard to pin-point why.

"We've seen a dramatic increase at the Spray Park. I can't tell you how much of that is attributed to the fact that we now have expanded the Spray Park and how much is due to the weather." Arnholz adds, "Traditionally, the weather does have a huge impact on how well used the Spray Park is."

The pool is on the opposite scale, Arnholz says they've seen a decrease in number of users since the weather started to warm up.

"Warm weather sometimes has the opposite effect.  As the days warm up we often see less people at the pool, and more people trying to do more outside activities."

Although the Crystal Shores Beach House is member specific, they've also noticed an up-tick in their daily numbers, and that's expected to increase with the Outdoor Water Ban in affect now.

Alison Boardley, Manager of the Beach House shares, they've noticed an increase in their daily average of nearly 200 people through out the day.

"The average obviously changes as it's totally weather dependent. We usually see about 1100 people coming through the gates in a day, lately we've been seeing about 1300 on some days."

Boardley adds, that's not all at one time, and numbers fluctuate with the time of day, but the sunshine has definitely been keeping them busy.

Neither venue has had any reports of hyperthermia or heat related illnesses during this time. Managers contribute that to the water near by allowing guests to stay cool.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com