Thicker ice levels cause flood concerns
Communities brace for spring breakup
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, April 21 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
As spring breakup approaches on Northwest Territories rivers, some communities are already trying to predict how the water will flow and what its impact might be.
Tom Unka, environmental adviser for the NWT Metis Nation in Fort Resolution, said this year's long, cold winter means ice on the Slave River and Great Slave Lake is thicker than usual.
"I know that we've set the nets on the lake about three weeks ago and we had to punch through almost six feet of ice on the Great Slave Lake, so it's quite thick," he said. "They have a lot of cold weather, so it really thickened pretty good and I'm sure it's the same for the Slave River."
Unka said thicker river ice increases the chance of ice jamming as it breaks up and moves downstream. Ice jams can also mean flooding.
"That could cause a little bit of concern with the jamming since it doesn't break as easily as thinner ice and if that happens, you get all the ice congestion and of course you're going to have flooding behind it in the delta," he said. "It's happened before."
Unka said while previous floods haven't affected the community, they have made it difficult for hunters to travel on the river. Hunters in Fort Resolution usually look for muskrat, beaver and waterfowl in the spring.
"It wouldn't so much keep the animals away, but it makes for a tougher process to get into the Slave River," he said. "There are other ways to get in through the lake, but usually it's all full with ice too on the lake, so it makes it harder to get into the channels if there is flooding and the roads are getting washed out."
He said a few years ago, a large flood covered the road to the community's boat launch.
"We've had waters backed up all the way down to a little creek just out of Fort Resolution here on the Nagle Channel road where the boat launches are," he said. "We've had back flooding almost two or three miles back on the road itself, and that was due to the ice jamming up on the main channels."
Unka said while flooding could affect those travelling on the river, the water would have to rise quite high to affect the community.
"It wouldn't be a direct threat to the community unless there is large amounts of water and it goes right over the channels," he said. "That hasn't happened."
But Unka said in addition to thicker ice, there has been more snow than usual this winter.
"There is a lot of snow on the ground so there could be a lot of water when that happens," he said.
There was more snow than usual in Aklavik this year as well, said hamlet foreman Dean Arey.
"There was a lot of snow this year, though," he said.
Arey said ice conditions on the Peel River Channel of the Mackenzie River appear to be normal and it's too early to tell what conditions might be later in the spring.
But, he said Aklavik is always on alert in springtime.
"It's a concern every year because we're in a flood zone," he said. "Every spring you don't know what the water is going to do."
Arey said breakup usually takes place between the weeks of May 26 and June 1, but it varies. A flood in 2006 caused almost $4 million in damages and required an emergency evacuation of about 300 people to Inuvik.
Last June, Aklavik declared a state of emergency after the Peel Channel overflowed its banks into the community, causing a much smaller flood.
Arey said while Aklavik residents are always aware of the possibility of flooding in the spring, it's still too early to start worrying yet.
"We have no concerns right now until around May," he said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not respond to an interview request by press time.
