On the brink: Gander facing water outage as lake continues to rise

Water levels continue torisein Gander, albeit at a slowing rate, and the town's water supply is in jeopardy as of Wednesday evening.

If water levels rise further theelectric turbines in the pump house could be compromised, leading to a shut down.

"It could take upwards of several days to get it back online," if that happenssaidDermotChafe, Gander'schief administrative officer.

"We had a significant buffer between the lake and the pump house (on Tuesday), but it's continued to rise and rise significantly," said Chafe.

Town workers have been taking preventative measures on Gander Lakesince Tuesday morning, when water levels were rising at a rate of 10 centimetres per hour. Water breached the town's pump house as workers used sandbags and concrete barriers to slow the flooding.

By Wednesday evening, the increasehad slowed to just over one centimetre per hour.

The town's pump house has about two feet of space before water compromises the turbines. With water pushing against the barriers, levels could rise quickly if there is a major breach.

Town workers have removed one of the pumps, so in the eventof a shutdown, one working pump will be held in reserve.

It will still take a day or more to access the buildingif that happens, and another day to re-install the pump.

In the meantime, the town is asking residents to fill whatever they can with water.

"We do expect it will get very close (to shutting down)," Chafe said. "If our measures are effective and we are very lucky, we may avoid an interruption in water. But outside of that, it's all up to Mother Nature at this point."

Gander relies on a 1.5 million gallon water reservoir for its hospital and nursing homes in case of emergencies.

Town officials activated the emergency operations centre to streamline communicationsandwill providean update Wednesdayevening.

An emergency line has been set up at 709-651-2941.