Emergency teams are meeting and sandbags have been deployed as fears of rising water threaten properties in the Yukon's Southern Lakes region.

Doug Caldwell, a spokesperson for the Yukon government's protective services branch, said this morning 13,000 sandbags have been deployed to Marsh Lake, Tagish and Carcross in preparation for rising water levels expected in those areas.

'There are also 7,000 sandbags in storage and another 10,000 are en route.

'Our number one concern is that property owners know what's coming up. The water is rising three to five centimetres a day.'

He said while permanent residents in the area are easy to locate, there is some concern that seasonal residents may be harder to find.

Caldwell said predictions received from Environment Yukon call for water levels above normal and that his organization is preparing for action.

'The Yukon government is working right now as we speak to put together risk assessment teams and hopefully talking with the owners.'

Glenn Ford, a hydrology technologist with the Department of Environment, said today water levels were predicted to reach 656.967 metres above sea level by late July or early August.

This year's prediction, he said, was about 18 centimetres higher than the 656.783 metres recorded in 2004, when a flood alert was issued.

Ford said an average water level for the area, based on 1967 figures, is 656.4 metres above sea level.

'This is just a forecast, it's based on weather. If it gets hotter, it could go up; if it gets cooler, it could go down.'

According to Environment Canada, the Carcross area is expected to get warmer this week with a high of 16 C today, 18 Tuesday, 19 Wednesday, 22 Thursday and 28 Friday.

Caldwell said sandbagging efforts have already begun, with 4,000 bags filled over the weekend. More people are being sought to help protect homeowners in the Southern Lakes region.

'There's a community approach to this that's being done.'

He said the government is also constructing a special web page on the flood risk that will be soon be available on its website- www.gov.yk.ca.

'It will show the water level and the forecasted level.'

He said there are some concerns about problems with septic tanks and the contamination of well water.

Chris Balzer, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services, said health workers were meeting this afternoon to discuss the possible health impacts of flooding.

Anyone looking to help out with the sandbagging efforts should call Mike Larsen at 660-4610 in Marsh Lake, Dennis Bouchard at 399-3572 in Tagish and/or Wesley Barrett at 821-4251 in Carcross.