Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Aklavik (June 03/02) - River icebergs are moving past Aklavik on the open river, providing some engaging conversation in town about the potential for a flood this year.

In a flood-prone community, river watching is an annual rite of spring. E

lder Ruth Furlong, who has been watching the river as much as anyone, says it probably won't be a flood year, despite the unusual amount of moving ice.

"Everybody is talking about flood," she says. "They're kind of excited. Every spring, it's the only excitement we have. Yesterday, I stayed up until three o'clock plucking ducks and watching the ice. The Mackenzie ice usually goes by the main river, but this time, it's going by this way. It's beautiful. Some of it is real high and big piles."

At the age of 71, Furlong has seen her share of floods, and she wouldn't mind seeing another.

"I want a flood," she says. "I want the town to get clean. One time the flood was so high, the water was right around (my house), I had the door open just watching the ducks swimming. We had floods before and I used to paddle around and enjoy it -- from my house to the store with a kicker, that's how high the water was many years ago."

Hamlet foreman Richard Ross has been watching the water daily as part of his job. He says the water has been rising slowly since May 24, but there's still room for higher water.

He wouldn't offer any flood predictions of his own, though. "You got to ask the boss -- the guy up in the sky," he says.

"You get up in the morning and you wash. Well, the land's got to have a wash once in a while too."

Meanwhile, staff at Environment Canada in Yellowknife are watching with sensors that transmit water levels to Yellowknife. Randy Wedel, supervisor of hydrologic services, says Aklavik water levels are relatively normal for this time of year.

As of May 30, the water level on the Mackenzie above Aklavik was 14.65 metres. During the last flood in 1992, the water reached 16.2 metres.

"We still got a bit of free board yet to go," Wedel says. "This year, we've had more of a dynamic breakup -- a series of ice jams and releases all down the system. It is high water and it is coming up, but it doesn't appear to be abnormal."

Aklavik has flooded every 10 years for much of the last century.

The frequency of the floods was the original impetus for the decision to establish a new community: Inuvik.