Water Flows In Nechako Close To One Half Of 2007

Friday, December 19, 2008 03:57 AM

Prince George - There is a significant difference in water levels this year over last on the Nechako River. The highest level of the Nechako came on December 12^{th, 2007}when the flow was 365 cubic meters (12,888 cubic ft per second) at Vanderhoof. The majority for that increase in the water level came from Alcan when they opened the gates at the Skins Lake spillway to do maintenance in early December.

The level of the river dropped to 335 cubic meters (11,828 cubic ft per second) on December 19^{th, 2007}.

By comparison the flows on the Nechako at Vanderhoof were 224 cubic meters (7,909 cubic ft per second) on December 12^th 2008 they dropped to 174 cubic meters or (6,143 cubic ft per second on December 18^th 2008.

The flows are just shy of half the volume of water coming down the Nechako River this year. Engineers working for the city said last year that the extra spills at the Skins Lake Spillway did not contribute to the flooding. They reasoned that the ground water had increased along with more moisture resulting from the loss of trees making for the increased flows.

Water experts say that the difference in the river level between this year and 2007, is nearly one half of the flow, or as one expert put it, it’s like taking a whole river out of the Nechako drainage this year.

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Posted on Friday, December 19, 2008 03:57 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: gus on December 19 2008 4:34 AM

That means that when an ice dam forms it will take almost twice as long to rise to flood level.

Posted by: Mercenary on December 19 2008 5:45 AM

Lets hope you folks in PG don't have to deal with that mess again this year.

Posted by: giterdun on December 19 2008 8:22 AM

Engineers working for the city said last year that the extra spills at the Skins Lake Spillway by Alcan did not contribute to the flood..... I am calling BULL S4!T.

Posted by: lifesucks on December 19 2008 8:30 AM

The first flood came last year on Dec.10 then it never stopped. Rio Tintin Alcan did admit they let our a large amount of water, I went to everyone of those mettings and listened to the same kind of bull**** that is beening handed out now. The Public Saftey Minister said to dredge the river, now if he said to dredge is there going to be a big lawsuit,think not.The city is just dragging their feet once again. It is time to get the job done so people can get along with their lives, things are bad enough so please don't make us eat the flood for Christmas again.

Posted by: He speaks on December 19 2008 11:45 AM

Dredge the river. The fishy have these things called fins, they can swim away, when there is danger.

Row row row your boat!

Posted by: Junco on December 19 2008 12:10 PM

giterdun I call bulls$@t too.

Posted by: giterdun on December 19 2008 12:38 PM

WHEN A BUREAUCRATE GETS PROMOTED TO HIS OWN LEVEL OF INCOMPETENCE, HE THEN BECOMES AN EXPERT. Dredge the river ... thats the right thing to do. However the word "commonsense" is not in an experts vocabulary.

Posted by: giterdun on December 19 2008 12:40 PM

How come our city experts never have a name???

Posted by: northman on December 19 2008 1:28 PM

I call B.S also.. These "experts" are good at 2 things!
1)Stating the obvious!
2)Not making any strateigic decisions!

On the other hand can you really blame the decison makers for not taking action? They have their hands tied with environmental legislation. The reason that rio tinto/alcan can get away with this is becuase they have the cash to fight their battles in court if they are challenged with contraventions.