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26 July 2010
Attabad lake level stabilises again
The latest report from the NDMA suggests that the lake level at Attabad has stabilised once again, matching the stabilisation of flow in the Indus catchment: There is no news as yet as to when blasting to drain the lake will start.
24 July 2010
Large drop in the lake level at Attabad
The latest NDMA update (released yesterday) reports a further very substantial drop in the level of the lake. The report is that the level of the lake fell by 28 inches (71 cm) in the 24 hour period to 9 am (local time) on 23rd July. This means that the lake level graph looks like this: The cause of this reduction appears to be a dramatic decrease in inflow, caused …
22 July 2010
Strange goings on at Attabad
The NDMA daily report for today (22nd July) reports a dramatic decrease in lake level – 19 inches (48 cm) in the last 24 hours. This is by far the largest fall recorded to date, producing a lake level the looks like this: This is quite surprising. Assuming that the surface area of the lake is 1202 hectares (in fact it is probably a little larger in reality), this implies …
21 July 2010
The Government has reportedly decided to use blasting to lower the lake at Attabad by 80 metres
The Associated Press Pakistan has a report of a somewhat important development in the Attabad landslide dam story this evening. The report is of a high level meeting, chaired by the President of Pakistan, which has decided to lower the level of the lake to 30 metres (it is currently 111 metres, implying a drop of about 80 metres from the current level. This will be achieved through controlled blasting. …
19 July 2010
Latest Attabad lake level information
I have now extracted the lake level data from the latest NDMA daily report. The latest graph on lake level above the spillway floor at the time of overtopping is as follows: I haven’t updated the long term lake level graph for a long time, so here it is: Finally, the flow through the spillway is also now increasing, even though the lake level is going up: This increased lake …
The Attabad lake is now at its highest level so far
Today’s NDMA report paints a surprising picture of the Attabad barrier lake. It reports that the water level has risen by 36 inches (91 cm) over the weekend, meaning that it is now at its highest ever level. I will try to post the graphs of lake level and discharge in the next three hours or so.
13 July 2010
Attabad – lake level is high but steady
The latest NDMA reports show that the lake level at Attabad is at its highest level to date, but is holding steady. As before, I have used the reports and the NDMA data to reconstruct the lake level data, to produce a graph that is consistent with NDMA for the last two weeks: Meanwhile, it appears that the discharge through the spillway has increased again, once more using the NDMA …
10 July 2010
Attabad – the lake level has apparently risen again
Interesting developments at Attabad, as various press reports suggest that the lake level increased substantially once again yesterday. The Pamir Times for example reports that the lake level went up by 11 inches (28 cm) yesterday; this magnitude of increase is reported elsewhere too. I have used the data and the graph in the NDMA daily reports to build a dataset of the lake level with time: If these reports …
9 July 2010
Increased landslide occurrence at Attabad
Various media reports suggest that the rate of landslide activity has dramatically increased today on the slopes above the Attabad lake. For example, SAMAA is reporting that “Series of landsliding still continues in intervals in Ataabad, Hunza, causing difficutlties for the boat service, SAMAA reported Friday. Process of landsliding has started in intervals since last night in Hunza, Ataabad. Boat service however being continuing.” A key concern remains the potential …
Attabad – what can NDMA do now?
The situation facing NDMA at Attabad remains very challenging. They continue to need to manage both an understandably restive displaced population and a dam that has reached some kind of dynamic equilibrium, with no major changes appearing to be occurring. In addition, the optimum solution for the upstream population (draining of the lake) is at odds with the probable wishes of the downstream population (stabilise the lake in place such …
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.
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