Water conservation efforts continued for a second day in Lunenburg, N.S., along with school and business closures, as crews worked to repair the Dares Lake dam.
The recently-constructed dam was breached Wednesday around 1 p.m. after a crack formed, sending water into the pump building.
Since the dam is the Town of Lunenburg’s main water supply, many businesses, industries, and restaurants were forced to close in an effort to conserve water.
Mayor Jamie Myra says the breach overflowed the lake and submerged the pump building. That meant no water was being pumped into the town’s water treatment facility.
“So eventually if that wasn’t rectified, we’d run out of water,” he said.
Closures in the town range from cafes to daycares, and larger companies like High Liner Foods, which is headquartered in Lunenburg.
“If it doesn’t get back up and running within the next 12 to 24 hours, you’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars (in revenue) lost (in the town) over Labour Day weekend,” said Myra.
For tourists who stopped by the popular waterfront community, it was a disappointment.
“We were going to go and have lunch at the Salt Shaker. I feel bad for the businesses, they’re losing a lot of money,” said one visitor.
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Myra says the dam was installed within the last year and cost the town about $1 million.
“I never ever envisioned the new dam just collapsing or giving way. That, to me, is a shocker,” he said.
As of Friday, two out of the three pumps in the building are working but not at 100 per cent, according to the mayor.
“People have been listening to the directive, people have been using less water, and the two pumps that are out working are somewhat being able to catch up to the water capacity,” he said.
“So if things keep going in the right direction, we’re hoping sooner rather than later our water utility is back up to the standards it needs to be to start delivering safe drinking water to everybody.”
Myra says the breach has now been secured and the focus remains on getting all three pumps fully operational.
He applauds the town’s efforts to fix the problem and apologizes to the businesses and students at Bluenose Academy who haven’t been able to return to class for the new school year.
“I really learned in the last 48 hours how close this community is. We haven’t had any pushback from residents (or) business owners. We all want the same end result and we’re all working together to get there,” he said.
Myra adds that anyone with property damage caused by the breach should contact his office.
Property owner Connor Veinot is keeping a close eye on the water.
What was once a small stream on his property has risen four feet and is threatening to flood his yard.
“I didn’t think it would rise that fast,” he said.
Now that the breach has been secured, he’s hopeful the water will recede. However, heavy rain in the forecast has him fearing the worst.
“Damage, erosion, undermining and stuff. Hopefully we don’t get a lot of downpour on top of it because it is a lot of force and I’m scared that it might take the bridge out behind me,” he said.
As for the cause of the damage, Myra says it’s still unclear but he’s in touch with provincial officials as they work to figure that out.
“(The dam) was a partnership between other levels of government as well. So it’ll be more than just us that are wondering what happened,” he said.
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