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HAY RIVER
Town officials are preparing for the annual ice breakup on the Hay River and are taking proactive measures to ensure minimal damage should a flood occur.

Fire Chief Ross Potter looks out towards the pressure ridge at Pumphouse Beach in Old Town. The Town has approved $10,000 to break up 400 meteres of the ridge at the East Channel and 300 metres at the West Channel to help with water flow at break up. Potter expects the work to be done next week. - Kristen Campbell/NNSL photo

During an April 10 committee of the whole meeting, Mike Richardson, the town's senior administrative officer, discussed a flood mitigation document the town is working to keep updated.

The preparation plan was submitted by Associated Engineering in January, and will be updated to 2012 so that both town officials and the public will have a response guide to reference.

"What we are looking for is feedback on the report so we can finalize it for 2012," said Richardson. "It guides our approach to preparation and response, as well as mitigation for breakup."

In previous years, Faye Hicks, an engineering professor from the University of Alberta, had been up to Hay River to study the annual breakup, but her project's funding ran out last year and she will not be in town for the show.

However, she said, despite all the planning and speculating done on the timing of the breakup, it is not possible to predict with strong confidence when the river will go out.

"It's difficult to predict the timing since it is so weather dependent," said Hicks in an e-mail. "Until the meteorologists can do long-range forecasting with confidence, we'll not be able to predict breakup timing with much confidence."

However, in discussions with Hicks, Hay River North MLA Robert Bouchard and former mayor John Pollard, the town has been advised that the size of the lake's ice ridge and its nearness to shore could cause issues during breakup this year.

Mayor Ken Latour said, although there is no projected time for breakup at this point, the town is taking measures sooner rather than later to try to prevent a major flood.

On April 13, council approved an expenditure of $10,000 to break up a 400-metre section of the ridge by the East Channel and a 300-metre section at the West Channel. The work will be started once the purchase order is completed.

"There is not a lot of water under the ice right now, which is also a concern," said Latour. "We need to take precautions to make sure the water gets to where it needs to go."

The town will hold public meetings and information sessions as April progresses to keep residents informed of emergency measures.

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