Large landslide in Porsanger – several hundred houses without water – news Troms and Finnmark

– We discovered that Brennelva had become dry. There has been a large landslide along the river, causing the Brennelva to be blocked. So says Jonny Olsen, operations manager for construction and property in Porsanger municipality. On Tuesday morning, the municipality was notified of high water consumption. 250 households do not have water in Brennelv and Østerbotn in Porsanger municipality due to a landslide. – We are now working on shutting off the line where the landslide has occurred. You can see the water pipe, and it has completely crumpled, so it is probably broken, says Olsen. The municipality is now working to get emergency water to the affected houses. – When can people expect to get the water back? – I dare not say that, we are dependent on being shut down by the broken line. Inspection of the landslide area has started. Contractors are currently preparing for the landslide area. Photo: Jomar Thomassen / Porsanger municipality Putting out drinking water It is not just in Porsanger that there is a shortage of water. Further west, in Neverfjord in Hammerfest municipality, poor pressure creates problems. On Tuesday morning, 1,000 liters of drinking water were put out at a bus stop, while the municipality works to rectify the error. – They start digging tomorrow. It is uncertain whether air has entered, or whether there is a leak, says business manager Geir Israelsen to news. He says it is difficult to predict when the water will return. – If we are lucky, it will go quickly, in the worst case, it will take a few days. On Monday, Hammerfest municipality also announced that a boil warning had to be introduced for Skaidi due to too much flood water for the water treatment plant to function properly. Israelsen says they are waiting for the flood water to pass the plant. The water level has started to drop, and he hopes that the boil warning will end on Wednesday. Low rainfall The reason for the low groundwater level and low water flow in rivers is that there has been a winter and spring with little snow in the mountains, as well as dry and warm weather in July, with less rainfall. According to observations from the Meteorological Institute (MET), there has been much less rainfall than normal in several places in northern Norway so far in July. – The situation as of today is not dramatic. We have not yet heard of problems with water supply, but if the current weather pattern with very little rainfall and hot weather continues through the summer, this could lead to a number of challenges for fishing, agriculture and water supply, says hydrogeologist Hervé Colleuille. Published 30.07.2024, at 11.49 Updated 30.07.2024, at 12.05



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