A dam created by a massive landslide along the Chilcotin River west of Williams Lake on Wednesday is expected to be breached within the next 24 to 48 hours, the Cariboo Regional District said.
In an update Thursday morning, CRD Chair Margo Wagner shared that there is an “imminent risk to public safety” due to the possibility of a breach.
“The Chilcotin River was completely blocked by a large landslide approximately 20 kilometres upstream from the Farwell Canyon Bridge,” Wagner said. “We are really stressing how important it is to stay away from the Chilcotin River and Valley.”
“Flooding is building up above the dam created by the landslide,” she explained. “It’s like a lake, and there is a risk of a flash flood downstream if the river breaches that landslide, which it is expected to do eventually.”
Wagner explained that while it’s difficult to accurately assess when the dam will be breached, the “current estimate is within the next 24 to 48 hours.”
“It will be one of two ways — the water will either rise enough that it will end up going over the top of the landslide, which, remember, is 30 metres deep, or there will be a small fissure develop in some soil and water will start oozing through,” she explained.
“Because it’s sand-based, and water and sand don’t do well together, they’ll just disappear and that will end up giving way.”
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