Summerland reworks budget to deal with crack in Thirsk Lake dam

A crack in one of Summerland’s reservoir dams had the district municipality’s councillors reassigning budget money to deal with the issue at a recent council meeting.

A significant crack was discovered in the dam last fall on the upstream face of the Thirsk Lake dam, which is on Trout Creek. The crack appeared along the interface between the original concrete poured for the dam in 1941 and an extension added in 2007.

It isn’t known how long the crack has been there. The portion of the dam where the crack appeared is usually underwater and can only be viewed from a boat during low levels on Thirsk Lake.

Summerland staffer Kris Johnson recommended council amend the budget in order to allocate $126,542 towards a structural analysis study on the dam.

Preliminary studies conducted late last year recommend a comprehensive structural analysis to determine the cause of the crack and to provide recommendations for corrective action.

A thorough analysis won’t be completed before mid-June, but district engineers aren’t worried about the dam withstanding this year’s spring freshet, nor are they concerned about lake levels rising above the area of the crack.

That’s important because the Thirsk reservoir will be needed at full capacity this summer as Summerland’s Isintok dam outlet pipe is replaced.

The maintenance will require lowering of the Isintok reservoir.

The budget for the analysis will come from deferring three water capital plan projects that include the Thirsk dam protection project at $45,000, the Thirsk wood debris in the spillway cleaning project at $50,000 and a project to remove trees on downstream dam embankments project at $30,000.

Council voted to defer spending on the three projects in order to reallocate funds for the analysis.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to tips@infonews.ca and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.