The area director at Stump Lake says a berm is blocking what used to be a natural outflow to the lake that is flooding homes.
David Laird says the blockage has been in place since the 1920s, and he says the lake would drain substantially without that berm in place.
“It has changed the natural outflow of the lake. If the berm was actually removed and it was put down to the bedrock elevation that the water did outflow years ago, it would definitely lower the lake substantially,” Laird says.
“The situation that’s happening on Stump Lake is a very difficult situation to solve, because it involves so many different ministries and aspects of high water at that location.”
Meantime, many homeowners at Stump Lake are getting hit hard by flood waters, for the third time in four years. Some residents want the Thompson Nicola Regional District to declare a local state of emergency.
“We did have a lengthy conference call involving ministries, elected officials and stakeholders last week,” Laird says.
“And the result of that was very clear that we need to have a consultant look at the effects of upstream and downstream water flow… And you also have to look and see what the effects are downstream.”
NL News asked the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Developments if it was aware of any private landowners having filled in the outflow the Stump Lake.
“We can’t answer that question because the investigation is still underway,” the Ministry says, after NL News repeated the question three times.
While avoiding the question of whether private landowners have caused the lake to fill up, the Ministry was quick to state, unprompted, that it’s investigating whether someone purposely tried to bring the lake level down, saying it appears someone tried to dig a channel on private property to do so.
Liberal Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart also avoided commenting on allegations that the lake’s outflow has been filled in by a private landowner.
“The thing about Stump Lake is that it’s one of those lakes that doesn’t have a natural outflow,” Tegart says, contrary to statements from Laird, a number of Stump Lake residents, as well as historical maps provided to NL News, showing an outflow called “Stump Lake Creek” that used to exist on the south end of the lake.
Tegart agreed that people in Stump Lake need support now from the provincial government, adding that a solution also has to be mindful of communities downstream.
“There’s many different levels of government. We are trying very hard to work within all of them, and keeping everybody’s needs in the forefront. But as you watch the water come up closer and closer to your home, the urgency is certainly right in front of you. We understand that, and what we’re trying to do is look for a long-term solution.”