Does anyone know if the dam is being maintained?.. I heard awhile back that NOBODY wants to assume responsibility for it, and it hasn’t been inspected since the mill shut down. Kinda scary to think if that dam ever let go… especially when they are starting to develop the land below for residential designation.
Thanks mudduck… I wonder if the recommendations in the report have been completed yet?.. It’s only been 3 years
This is scary!.. is the city documenting their “weekly” inspections?
The other B.C. “high consequence dams” that were on the ministry’s internal list included three near Prince Rupert: Kloiya, Rainbow Lake and Diana Lake. The city of Prince Rupert is conducting weekly checks of the facilities, which are also the responsibility of a local forestry company, to ensure no new problems arise.
Read it on Global News: Global Toronto | Some B.C. dams at ‘high risk’ of collapse
Can I be so bold and ask why it is scary? could it be the loss of potential water front property to a new suburb that may never be developed? or The loss of a fishing spot? or The potential of loss of life for anyone on the lakes or on the river at the time of such event.
If the damn broke or was to be decommissioned what would it destroy exactly?
Would the surrounding area of the lakes not revert to the state of which the area looked like, back before the pre pulp mill?
Remember the only reason that damn exists is to feed water to the non-existent pulp mill.
you mean besides washing out the only land access to Prince Rupert and Port Edward?.. and yes, washing out one of my favorite fishing holes too
also… if the city isn’t doing “checks”, and something happens… does that make them responsible?
who Port ED? Prince Rupert or both? oh as City owns the pulp mill they own the damn as well… good question ?
No… just Rupert
It does seem to be in Port Ed’s district not ruperts, and they do keep the road to the kloya damn clear of snow so they are doing somthing out there !
And who’s goin to pay to remove the damn as its no longer needed, no water is flowing through the pipe anymore, I see people complaining about the potholes in the road, which will they pay for first ? with the lack of money there already having problems with, just wait till the gripers gripe about the land taxes being raised to pay for the road’s lol
yes I fish on the river too, we take our kids and teach them about catch and release, and the different wildlife in the area like bears, wolves, and otters. Has City been approached about the damn?
the report says that the City and " a local forestry company" are responsible to ensure no new problems arise… wonder who THAT company is?
Artic
In all cases, the dam owners are clearly responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of their dams. English common law, on which our legal system is based, considers dams to be “inherently dangerous structures”, and those who own dams are liable for any damages that are caused by the dam.
Under the provincial Water Act, it is the responsibility of the dam owner to ensure that their dam and appurtenant works are inspected, operated safely and maintained adequately to prevent the damaging of land, works, trees or other property from a dam breach.
The Dam Safety Regulation was passed into law as Regulation 44/2000 under the Water Act effective February 11, 2000. The objective of the Regulation is to mitigate loss of life and damage to property and the environment from a dam breach by requiring dam owners to inspect their own dams, undertake proper maintenance on them, and ensure that these dams meet ongoing engineering standards.
Taken from the M.O.E website
Chelton van Geloven, Dam Safety Officer
Water Stewardship, Min. of FLNRO
#325 - 1011 4th Ave
Prince George BC V2L 3H9
250 565-4462
Apparently this is the person to talk to… I might just give him a call tomorrow 
I think it’s only a matter of time before those dams all come out. They don’t serve any purpose anymore other than to hold back water and maintain the lakes and creeks as we know it. Hopefully whoever eventually buys the mill site will assume responsibility and get the city off the hook.
I don’t have much of a problem if those lake levels were slowly brought down to their original levels,
this can be easily accomplished by slowly raising the gates, theerby lowering the lake levels.
Currently the reserve of water serves no purpose, if the lakes were restored to their original levels, the foreshores would be ugly until they greened over, but that could be easliy remedied if the will was there to do it.
There would also be the added bonus for the kids who could go into the newly dry foreshore and harvest all of the lost fishing lures.
What’s wrong with the way the Lake is now? They gave the beach an overhaul quite recently to stop the sand being washed away after the melt every year–why would we want to drain the lake down just to throw more money making it usable, again?
Unfortunately, if the lakes ever are returned to their historical levels both Provincial Parks would be effected.
I lived in France for a while back in the late 90’s and early part of this century and recall a few dams being decommissioned there. There was some concern initially but I seem to remember it going fairly well and it actually helped improve salmon spawning grounds as the river returned to its previous flow. Might not be bad to do it here either.