Yukon government employees should be permitted to leave work to help with the Southern Lakes sandbagging effort already underway with volunteers and jail inmates, says the Leader of the official Opposition.

Arthur Mitchell, the leader of the territory's Liberal party, said he's happy with the government's effort to date to combat rising water in the Southern Lakes and Lake Laberge areas.

However, he would like to see government employees given the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand, he said.

'What I was thinking is doing the same thing we did during the Canada Winter Games,' he said.

'Lots of people were seconded during the Games. The government was able to function on seven cylinders instead of eight.'

Mitchell said he has been out to see some of the areas affected by the rising water and feels the government's response is good, but could be even better with more volunteers.

'This is not the time to be critical of any response.'

Archie Lang, the minister for the Department of Highways and Public Works, said this morning the Emergency Measures Organization and employees from his department are already working on the flooding situation.

The effort is further being helped with inmates from the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) who are filling sandbags, Lang said, and government employees may not be needed.

'Right now with the number of people we have on the ground, that might not be needed.'

Dan Cable, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said this morning a volunteer effort at the jail began Wednesday evening.

'I'm not sure where the sand is going; we're just filling them up for them.

'They're volunteers, not indentured servants.'

Mark Daniels, the head guard at the WCC, said today that since the call for volunteers went out at the jail, there has been an overwhelming response from inmates.

'We have a lot of inmates who are just lining up,' he said.

Daniels said there are currently 12 inmates working on filling the 3,000 empty sandbags that have been delivered to the WCC and more are lined up.

The jail, he added, is expecting another 10,000 bags.

Lang said while he is open to the idea of having a similar volunteer initiative to the Canada Winter Games to have even more volunteers, it's not simply a matter of turning employees loose.

'It's more than just saying we want to send people,' he said. 'We have to think of things such as workers' compensation.'

Water has been rising in the Southern Lakes region for several weeks.

A flood alert has also been issued for the Lake Laberge area.

Water levels in Marsh Lake, according to the government's protective services branch, are slated to rise above the 1981 record level of 657 metres and reach 657.17 metres above sea level.

Water levels reached 656.959 metres above sea level at Marsh Lake on Wednesday.

Average levels for the area are considered 656.4 metres above sea level.

Bryce Larke, the Yukon's medical officer of health, issued a boil water advisory yesterday for Marsh Lake, Carcross, Tagish and Lake Laberge.