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A prolonged absence of rain means water levels across large areas of the Northwest Territories remain at or near record lows, the territorial government says.
In their latest water monitoring bulletin this week, the territory’s hydrologists said there had been “little change” to the situation in August, while levels can be expected to drop in the months ahead.
“A decrease in water levels and flow rates is expected for September and October, as is normal for this time of year, when precipitation amounts are reduced and fall freeze-up approaches,” the bulletin stated.
Great Slave Lake remains at its lowest water level recorded for this time of year, the GNWT added, and its level is lower than last year at this time.
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Accumulated snow and rainfall this spring and summer has been “well below average” for almost every NWT community, a pattern that the GNWT says continued in August. In Yellowknife, the figure for cumulative precipitation is the lowest on record.
Only in Inuvik is the picture different. The town has had “well above average” precipitation all year and even managed average rainfall in August, when virtually every other community saw very little rain.
The bulletin’s summary concluded by clinging to a federal long-range forecast that suggests a “greater than 40-percent chance” of many NWT areas seeing “above-normal precipitation for the months of September, October and November.”
The bulletin also keeps an eye on conditions in northern Alberta and BC, which have a bearing on the flow of water into the NWT.
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Precipitation in that area has been average so far this summer, the GNWT said, which is not “enough to overcome the extreme drought and soil moisture deficit.”
The filling of Site C, the BC Hydro reservoir, began in late August and is expected by the GNWT to take four months to complete.
“The filling of Site C is projected to have a relatively minor impact on our water levels compared to the effects of our current drought, which caused water levels to drop significantly during the summer of 2023,” the territory’s bulletin stated.
