Southern Lakes water levels continue to dip slightly in Yukon as flood response continues
Jackfish Bay Road closed Monday to allow crews to work
The water levels in Yukon's Southern Lakes are slowly going down — at least for now.
In a flood update issued over the weekend, the territorial government said Bennett, Tagish, and Marsh lakes, as well as Lake Laberge, had all gone down between 0.9 and 1.5 centimetres in 24 hours.
All four remain well above 2007 levels, in particular Lake Laberge, which is currently 32.1 centimetres higher.
Despite the stabilization, Yukon Protective Services' spokesperson Echo Ross said help is still needed with sandbagging, and that work continues on reinforcing and building up berms.
She also warned that Jackfish Bay Road will be closed on Monday, but is expected to reopen by the end of the day.
"As of 9:30 a.m. the road will be closed from lot 524 onward, as crews will be raising the road. That will prevent further flooding and give residents in the area better access to their property," Ross told CBC.
On Monday, July 26 at 9:30 a.m. the Jackfish Bay Road will be closed from lots 524 onward. Our crews will be raising the road. This will prevent further flooding on the road and give residents better access to their properties. Residents have been advised of this. <a href="https://t.co/mrQOEMoBPj">pic.twitter.com/mrQOEMoBPj</a>
—@YukonPSGlacier melt still to come
Speaking to Yukon Morning host Elyn Jones on Monday, researcher John Pomeroy said it's hard to predict how high water levels could go up again next month.
Flooded lakes and rivers are "forecast to continue to increase as the glacier melt kicks in as we approach August," said Pomeroy, who is the director of the centre of hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan.
He's now in the territory to study the summer flooding, and told Jones he's seeing two opposing hydrological stories play out side-by-side.
"If areas had high snowpack, they are flooding right now. But areas that had lower snowpack or lower mountains that couldn't keep their snow through the summer — that snow melted much earlier on, and the streams are dropping rapidly… that's what our forecasts are showing for the Pelly and Liard and many other rivers," he said.
At a news conference last week, emergency officials were asked if they were prepared for water levels to rise again — and responded confidently.
"Ultimately we just build our berms to whatever height is necessary," Mark Hill of Yukon Protective Services said. "For the most part we're extremely pleased with the mitigations that are in place."