Map showing location of Fadear Lake north of Sun Peaks/via Google Earth
Over a dozen properties north of Kamloops in an isolated area northwest of Sun Peaks have been put on evacuation alert.
“There’s a risk of an imminent risk of failure of the Fadear Lake dam,” said Colton Davies, spokesperson for the Thomspon Nicola Regional District, which issued the Evacuation Alert just before 6pm Monday.
“There’s 14 properties located within our Evacuation Alert-zone,” added Davies, who noted the Alert was being issued on the recommendation of the provincial government.
At issue is a back-up of a man-made dam on the stream end of Fadear Lake, which Davies says the province has deemed as “unauthorized.”
Fadear Lake and its stream — a non-salmon-bearing tributary of Louis Creek — sits in an area in between Adams Lake and the Yellowhead Highway.
Davies says properties being put under the Evacuation Alert are situated along the waterway leading out of the Lake, which are being warned of the potential for flooding.
However, he says the wider stream and river system is not in any immediate danger.
“If there were a huge amount of water that were to spill into the Creek, the volume isn’t enough for it to effect properties downstream,” said Davies of areas beyond the Evacuation Alert zone in the Lewis and Heffley Creek areas.
As for what’s led to issue, Davies says engineers with the Province and the TNRD are going to be doing assessments but suggests it may be an issue of beavers jamming up the culverts which allowed a moderate amount of water to flow from Fadear Lake.
Davies says while crews are working on trying to solve the problem before an imminent release of water, he says there is need for those downstream of Fadear Lake to be ready to move out as water levels continue to rise.
“The information we’ve gotten from the province is that it [water breaching the top of the man-made dam] will happen in the coming days,” warned Davies.
“It will all depend on rainfall, of course,” he added.
It’s unclear at this point who created the dam at the north end of Fadear Lake or why it hasn’t been maintained.
