A Flood Watch continues for communities along the Chilcotin River near Williams Lake.
Jonathan Boyd is a Hydrologist with the BC River Forecast Centre…
“Over the last four days we’ve observed about 90 millimeters of rainfall in the region, which is quite a significant amount for a region that is normally quite dry, and with this rainfall the Chilcotin River rose quite rapidly and is currently flowing at 605 cubic meters per second, which is about a 50-year return period flow, so a very significant flow.”
Boyd says more rain is in the forecast and that flow is expected to go up to around 627 cubic meters per second this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
He says the public is advised to take precautions…
“The public is advised to stay away from fast moving rivers and to stay away from riverbanks which can potentially become unstable with high flows. In that region, the Chilcotin River below Big Creek, the water survey gauge is really just the one isolated station there so the Chilcotin River has the flood watch but it’s also inclusive of some of the smaller tributaries that flow into it.”
Boyd says the next step after a Flood Watch would be a Flood Warning.
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