The current state of play is I think as follows. Flow appears to be constrained by two blockages but, as a commenter has noted, one is a rock spur out of the channel. The blockage appears to have formed a small waterfall / rapid. Downstream of the blockage the channel has widened dramatically - and indeed a section of the track has now been lost.
To me this suggests that the crisis may be far from being over. In particular, the loss of this barrier could cause a rapid increase in flow rate that could be highly erosive. It is however important to stress that interpreting the state of play from photos is difficult.
It looks like the white water zone is getting pretty wild, and much closer to the lake than it was. I note the boat service has been rescheduled... going anywhere near this area would take more guts than I possess!
ReplyDeleteBecause of the position and angle this photo was shot at, it does make it appear that the spillway channel is significantly different compared to earlier photos, seemingly much shorter. But I think this is just an illusion.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the photo at the link below, which was taken no more than a few hours before the one in this post, but from roughly the same position as photos taken in prior days, you can tell that the changes are relatively minor: sideward erosion causing collapse of the flanking banks, but little change in the spillway channel path and depth.
Apparently no change in the lake level yesterday, although flow is up to the high 4000s, so it seems to be matching the gradually increasing inflow due to the rising temps.
http://pamirtimes.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/spillwaynew1.jpg
Now there are some rumors of controlled blasting of these boulders. However, these have already been denied by NDMA.
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