Municipal Affairs and Environment
October 2, 2017
Provincial Government Releases Report from Independent Assessment of Mud Lake Flooding
The Provincial Government today released the report from an independent assessment of the flooding event that occurred at Mud Lake on May 17, 2017.
Shortly after the event, Dr. Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt was engaged as an Independent Expert Technical Advisor (IETA) to determine the reasons for the flooding event, taking into consideration local knowledge from residents of the impacted area, and to provide guidance on what actions can be taken to avoid or mitigate impacts of potential future flooding.
The independent report outlines that a combination of natural causes resulted in ice jamming at the mouth of the Churchill River, which led to the flood event. The report also provides guidance on the measures that can be taken to mitigate and prevent future flooding and to provide advance warning to residents, including recommendations for community-based monitoring planning, ice management planning, and flood management planning.
Since Dr. Lindenschmidt was appointed on June 14, 2017, the Terms of Reference for the assessment were drafted, and an external engineering consultant, KGS Group, was engaged on July 14. The team held community meetings with the residents of Mud Lake and Happy Valley-Goose Bay on July 26-27 to discuss local knowledge and again on September 7 to share the initial findings of the assessment.
The final report was received on Friday, September 29 and can be found at: www.mae.gov.nl.ca/waterres/flooding/mud_lake_flooding.html
Quote
�I�d like to extend our gratitude to Dr. Lindenschmidt for bringing his significant expertise and valuable insight to his work on an independent review. We have begun reviewing the report and we appreciate the effort the team made in providing this report in a timely manner. The flooding event at Mud Lake deeply affected the residents of the area and our government is committed to helping them and protecting against the potential for future events.�
Honourable Eddie Joyce
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment
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Learn More
Appointment to Lead Assessment of Flooding at Mud Lake: www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2017/exec/0614n01.aspx
Award of contract for engineering consultant: www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2017/ma/0717n06.aspx
Terms of Reference: www.mae.gov.nl.ca/waterres/flooding/mud_lake_independent_review_tor.pdf
Final Report: www.mae.gov.nl.ca/waterres/flooding/mud_lake_flooding.html
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Media contact
Lynn Robinson
Municipal Affairs and Environment
709-729-5449, 691-9466
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca
2017 10 02 4:05 p.m.