As winter approaches, Quesnel Lake could become cloudier, according to a three-page report released by Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC).
The report, Quesnel Lake Cloudiness at Lake Overturn, suggests when warmer surface waters begin to cool and wind storms occur, it will be easier for sediments and turbid water sitting at the bottom of Quesnel Lake to move upwards.
“Initially we expect this to be more prevalent in the area near Likely and then involving a greater portion of the West Arm,” a computer simulation diagram in the report notes.
It is also expected exchanges of water will take place within the main body of the lake, that clearer water will move from the eastern basin into the West Arm and a corresponding amount of turbid water will move east, although at very low turbidity levels.
“By the middle of 2015, the cloudiness of the surface water is expected to begin to subside and by the summer of 2015 conditions at the lake surface are expected to have returned to normal,” according to the report.
The computer modelling also predicts rising turbidity levels for the Quesnel River in late November and December, that are expected to subside mid January.