Incorporating the effects of upstream ice jam releases in the prediction of flood levels in the Hay River delta, Canada

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
• Main Authors: De Coste, Michael, She, Yuntong, Blackburn, Julia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2017
• Subjects: Canada; Great Slave Lake; Hay River; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2017-0123; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjce-2017-0123; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjce-2017-0123

The town of Hay River, located in the Northwest Territories, Canada, is vulnerable to ice jam flooding occurring in the adjacent Hay River delta. The most extreme flooding events have occurred when ice jams in the channels of the delta were pushed downstream towards the mouth at Great Slave Lake. This movement has been linked to incoming waves from ice jam release in the upstream reaches of the Hay River. This study incorporated the effect of an upstream ice jam release wave into the prediction of ice jam caused flood levels in the delta by integrating three one-dimensional models. The method was validated with observed breakup events and then used to simulate various combinations of ice and water conditions in the river and the delta. Multiple linear regression analyses were applied to the results to develop a prediction tool for assessing ice jam flood risk.