VANCOUVER – The B.C. government says it’s keeping a close eye on river flows as a “big pulse” of debris and sediment-laden water is expected to work its way down to the Fraser River after a massive landslide dammed the Chilcotin River last week.
Connie Chapman with the province’s water management branch says the pulse of water after the dam breached yesterday morning will make its way toward the Fraser River, and modelling shows it will reach the community of Hope sometime today.
Chapman says some places will see river levels swell to levels comparable to the spring runoff, flowing down toward Lillooet, then Boston Bar and then onto Hope, which will see river levels increase about one metre.
She says once the water enters the Fraser River, it will have more room to spread out and officials will be monitoring how and where debris from the water pulse ends up.
Water and Resource Minister Nathan Cullen says experts from the province, First Nations and Canada’s Fisheries Department “worked tirelessly” on the response to the slide, which entered a “new phase” once it breached the dam on Monday.
Cullen says they were preparing for “all possibilities,” and though the risks are decreasing after the dam breach, the possibility of more landslides due to unstable slopes remains “a real concern.”
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