The Cariboo region lagged behind the rest of the province in dam inspections last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the provincial government.
The region had fewer dams inspected than other parts of the province and a lower percentage of those inspections were completed by professional engineers. Additionally, no dam audits were done at all in the region in the 2011-12 year.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations divides the province into seven regions and adds an eighth category for major dams. Of the eight divisions, the Cariboo ranked second last with 84 per cent of its 34 high, very high or extreme consequence dams having had the required inspection completed in 2011-12. It's a drop-off from the 2010-11 year, when all of the dams in Cariboo were inspected.
Comparatively, the provincial average in 2011-12 was 95 per cent dams inspected and three of the regions had 100 per cent compliance. The Kootenay/Boundry region was the only one that fared worse than the Cariboo at 75 per cent.
The Cariboo also trailed the provincial average with just 28 per cent of the dam inspections conducted by a professional engineer; province-wide the figure was 56 per cent.
The position of dam safety auditor in Cariboo was vacant this past year, resulting in zero dams in the region being audited, despite the fact the ministry had set a goal of 18. There were 19 audits in the region in 2009-10 and nine in 2010-11. Audits are required at least every five years for high, very high or extreme consequence dams and include a site visit to ensure there are no deficiencies and that all required paperwork is in order.
The Cariboo did see an increase in the number of dam owners providing the government with completed survey forms -- 94 per cent last year compared with 91 per cent the previous year -- but are still just below the provincial average of 96 per cent.
Across the province, there were no dam failures last year and just one dam alert -- which is defined as a problem that could lead to a failure if not immediately addressed -- and seven minor incidents. The few problems that did pop up were all rectified to the ministry's standard, according to the report.
There are 1,640 regulated dams in the province, of which just 313 are in the high, very high or extreme consequence categories. The province has just starting releasing an annual dam safety report in the aftermath of the 2010 failure of the Testalinden dam near Oliver.
