Whitehorse continues to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.

That was the word from city officials late this morning as they held a news conference to discuss how the city is preparing for any further rise of the Yukon River.

“This is not a state of emergency yet,” said city information manager Myles Dolphin.

“We’re still very much in the information-gathering and research stage, and working very closely with our partners at the Yukon government and Yukon Energy to develop action plans.”

Those sentiments were also conveyed by Mayor Dan Curtis and Jason Everitt, the chief of the fire department.

The city is very much in a preparation and prevention mode so far. With many partners contributing information and lot of moving parts, it’s a very fluid situation at the moment.

The city is attempting to gather the information it needs to fully assess the danger to the city, Everitt said.

At the moment, that includes how the water levels compare to 2007. Everitt said he could only offer anecdotal evidence so far. He pointed to the fact that the Southern Lakes have already exceeded the record 2007 levels.

He told reporters the city is somewhat reliant on Yukon Energy for information on the river, as well as the Yukon government.

“We’re establishing relationships with those organizations and others,” Everitt said.

“We’re working with our partners. They are providing the broader information we need. That information sharing is happening on a daily basis.”

The city is planning on establishing markers to track the height of the river as it progresses, Everitt said.

“The question of when the (river levels) become a problem is the million-dollar question,” he said. “We’re working very closely with Yukon Energy to determine where we are today, where we will be tomorrow and into next week. They are essentially the gatekeeper of what we are seeing. There’s many pieces that come to bear.”

Everitt said it’s almost certain the river will keep rising for the foreseeable future, even though most of the snowpack is gone from the mountains now.

The potential for flooding now will be dictated largely by the weather. A period of wet weather could certainly pose some new challenges.

“It’s a dynamic situation.”

Obvious low-lying areas, such as the Marwell industrial neighbourhood, will likely be most at risk, but the level of the risk hasn’t been established.

Everitt said the city is assessing various spots to establish what the risk threshold is.

“We’re strategizing on what those areas are,” he said.

The city has a small stockpile of sandbags on hand and is waiting for a large shipment, which should be delivered in the next week.

It’s possible sandbagging could start in threatened areas, he said, but a definitive decision hasn’t been made yet.

“Our goal is to have those measures in place before there’s any intrusions (from the river). Prevention is the goal.”

Partly due to that lack of information, city officials are asking for the public to be patient.

It’s likely some city services could affected at some point, as staff and resources from non-essential operations could be diverted to help with flood control.

Curtis said “there’s a tremendous amount” of information going on – both incoming and outgoing.”

He reiterated that currently, the city is not facing an emergency.

“We’ve dealt with floods before. However, we see what’s happening (elsewhere).

“We’re doing this (the preparation work) even though it may not be needed,” the mayor said. “There’s no reason to panic, but we have a plan.

“We’re getting on top of it before it happens, but it’s an unprecedented situation.”

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