British ColumbiaThe Thompson-Nicola Regional District says the Fadear Lake dam, located about 45 kilometres northeast of Kamloops, is at risk of “imminent failure.”Fadear Lake dam, located northeast of Kamloops, at risk of ‘imminent failure,’ says regional districtCBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2025 2:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoMore than a dozen properties along Fadear Creek Road near Sun Peaks, B.C., have been put on evacuation alert. (Thompson-Nicola Regional District)The residents of 14 rural properties in B.C.’s Interior are being asked to prepare to leave at a moment’s notice, due to the potential failure of a nearby dam. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) issued the evacuation alert Monday evening for residents along a portion of Fadear Creek Road, about 45 kilometres northeast of Kamloops, in Electoral Area O. Residents are being asked to prepare for the possibility of an evacuation order by packing essential items, arranging to stay elsewhere and ensuring provisions are made for pets and livestock that would also need to be evacuated from the property. The TNRD said the Fadear Lake dam is at risk of “imminent failure.”Communications manager Colton Davies said the man-made gravel dam is located at the north end of Fadear Lake where it drains into Fadear Creek. Davies said a couple of culverts within the dam have been blocked up, causing the lake level to rise. He added that uncontrolled water is flowing down the creek, and the concern is that if water spills over the top of the dam, the dam’s surface could erode and cause it to fail entirely. According to Davies, the province alerted the district to the issue, and described the dam as “unauthorized.””I suppose that means there’s no permits,” Davies told CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops. Davies said it’s “definitely an unusual situation” to see an unauthorized dam, and the regional district isn’t sure who built it since dams are under the jurisdiction of the province. The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a statement that there was another unauthorized dam in the same area that caused downstream damage in 2023. The ministry said it was notified of the dam and natural resources officers went to the site, where they determined there was an “imminent risk of overtopping.” “Immediate steps being taken are assessing the risk and developing a plan of action. The top priority is keeping people safe. An engineer is being contracted to assess the situation and prepare a plan for next steps,’ the ministry statement said. Davies said it’s possible the TNRD will issue a local state of emergency sometime Tuesday. “The TNRD and the province are engaging experts today and looking at really what we could do to mitigate the risk.”With files from Daybreak Kamloops and The Canadian Press
14 properties in B.C. Interior on evacuation alert as dam threatens to fail
