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Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency (WSA) is warning those in the La Ronge area of a potential dam failure.
The WSA has changed the emergency classification of the La Ronge Dam from a ‘hazardous condition’ to the new classification of a ‘potential dam failure.’
According to the WSA, this is the result of a significant amount of rainfall in the area recently. The lake level is expected to increase by 10 cm to 365 m.
The WSA has mitigation efforts in place including large sandbags on top of the dam.
“The dam is not in imminent danger of failing but the water level is encroaching on the minimum recommended freeboard,” said the WSA in a press release. “When this happens, it changes the dam safety emergency classification.”
Freeboard is the distance between the water level and the top of the structure.
Locals 650 CKOM spoke with are not too concerned about the warning, claiming water warnings are very common in the region.
Despite that, they haven’t seen levels this high in a number of years.
“I haven’t seen levels this high since at least 2011,” said Philip Gregory, resident in the area. “We’re experiencing super high water levels everywhere up here.”
WSA classifies dams as low, significant, high, very high, or extreme based on the estimated consequences of dam failure as it relates to loss of life, environmental and cultural impacts, economic damages, and restoration costs.
La Ronge Dam is classified as ‘significant.’
WSA is assessing what additional mitigation measures can be used by monitoring of the levels being increased from weekly, to daily.
The area saw around 40 mm of rainfall on July 25 and 26.