21 February 2015
Fauquier golf course – an interesting large-scale slump
Posted by Dave Petley
Fauquier Golf Course
Fauquier Golf Course is located near Nakusp in West Kootenay, British Columbia in western Canada,on slopes above Lower Arrow Lake. This is the setting in Google Earth:
Fauquier as shown in Googel Earth
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In recent days a large landslide has developed at the site, severely damaging some of the holes in the course. This news report describes the problem; there’s not much doubt that this is a landslide. There is a nice set of photographs of the landslide on the Daybreak South Facebook site, including these two:
Fauquier Golf Course landslide via Daybreak South
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Fauquier Golf Course landslide via Daybreak South
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The news reports suggest that the key opening time for the golf course at Faqquier is early April. Even if the movement has ceased getting the course playable by this time will be a challenge. The course appears to be an important source of revenue for the local community, so the effects of this landslide go far beyond the loss of a few rounds of golf.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
The Arrow Lakes were formed from a power dam that flooded out a number of communities. Those communities and the highway were relocated to higher ground.
The comment section in the newspaper article points out that water levels change drastically – flooding and draining deposits which tend to be from ancient landslides.