The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary is trying to prevent flooding by lowering Saddle Lake Dam.
“Our field staff in rural Grand Forks are right now carrying out a provincial order to lower the reservoir level at Saddle Lake Dam,” said Goran Denkovski, Manager of Infrastructure and Sustainability for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.
“We want people to understand that pumping water from the reservoir is to minimize the risk to people, property and the environment during freshet.”
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Denkovski stressed that it is illegal to alter any watercourse, even if a creek bed has been dry for a period of time.
“In higher freshet years, dry water courses will fill up and come to life again,” he said. “Altering the natural flow of a creek can have potential consequences for surrounding landowners.”
The regional district will receive $190,000 in federal Gas Tax funding this spring to build a spillway to reliably manage water levels year-round at Saddle Lake Dam, but the project can’t begin until after the 2018 freshet.
Denkovski said water levels at Saddle Lake Dam are affected by mid-elevation snow and much of it has already melted.
The snow basin index is currently at 149 per cent of normal for the Boundary region.
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