The Province says they’re seeing no seepage through the Chilcotin River landslide material.
During their afternoon press conference yesterday (Saturday), they say their preliminary modelling of potential worst-case scenario, the estimated waterflows are expected to be below typical spring snowmelt peak levels from Lillooet to Hope.
Farwell Canyon Bridge and the confluence of the Chilcotin River peak water flows would still be above normal.
Executive Director of Water Management, Connie Chapman says they continue to see activity in the area.
“Early [Saturday] morning, we did see additional movement within the landslide. We saw additional debris come down off of that scarp embankment and come up overtop of already deposited materials.” says Chapman.
“We do know that this area does have instability within it, and so we are not surprised by this continuation of activity within the area.”
Chapman says over the last 24 hours, they have seen the lake rise at a rate of roughly 22 centimetres per hour, which is a slight decrease than the past couple days, but expect it to continue to rise.
She added that they have confidence that this will be an over breach type failure rather than a seepage failure.
Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen says the waterflows in the Chilcotin River brings real risk for that ecosystem and the banks along that river.
He added they’re continuing to monitor the situation, preparing for all possibilities, as there are still risks including further landslides upstream of the damn and potentially downstream once water starts to flow through in a significant way.
Evacuation orders and alerts along the Chilcotin River to Churn Creek remain in place.
More information can be found on the previous story here.
–Files by Zachary Barrowcliff, My Cariboo Now
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
