Due to the volume and frequent updating of the water level and other data made available on this web site this data is considered to be PROVISIONAL because it has not undergone quality control checks. These data may be subject to significant change.

The Town of Badger is located in the central region of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, west of Grand Falls-Windsor. Badger is situated at the confluence of three rivers, the largest of which is the Exploits River. 

Badger has a long recorded history of flooding dating back to 1916. Following the flood in 1983, a hydrotechnical study was carried out under the Canada-Newfoundland Flood Damage Reduction Program. The study analyzed causes of the previous floods, looked at remedial measures and produced a flood risk map for the town. 

The flood risk map shows the flood risk zones for floods with a return period of 20 years ( 5% chance in any year) and 100 years (1% chance in any year). This map is used for public information, municipal planning, development control, and the setting of structural design criteria. All proposed developments in flood risk zones are evaluated against potential impacts on water resources, on the developments themselves, and on the surrounding areas.

The flood risk map for Badger is available in electronic format through the links below or can be obtained  from the Department of Environment as a 60x90cm folded paper map. Please contact us if you wish to obtain a paper copy.

Flood Information Map for Badger
Small JPG   Large JPG    Adobe PDF

The flood that occurred in 2003 was the most severe in terms of the depth of inundation, the speed at which the flooding occurred and the damages to the town. On the morning of February 15, in less than an hour, the water level rose 2.3 metres. In the days that followed, extremely cold conditions froze the flood waters and encased a large portion of the town in ice for weeks. A report entitled "Badger Flood 2003 Situation Report" was prepared after this event and it gives detailed information about the hydrology of the flood.

The Water Resources Management Division has carried out river flow monitoring and flood forecasting for Badger since the 1977 flood. A computer simulation model called the "Ice Progression Model" currently used by the Division for flood forecasting was developed to simulate ice conditions on the Exploits River. This model was developed as part of the study "Hydrotechnical Study of the Badger and Rushy Pond Areas (Fenco Newfoundland, 1985) " and further refined in the study "River Ice Modelling Study Exploits River at Badger (Fenco MacLaren, 1995)". 

Since December 2003, the Water Resources Management Division has obtained satellite RADAR imagery from the ENVISAT and RADARSAT polar orbiting satellites.  This RADAR imagery service has been provided by C-CORE under the Polar View initiative and have been funded by the European Space Agency’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program.  These RADAR Images are used in an operational sense to determine the location of the ice front.  The utility of RADAR imagery for ice observation provides several important advantages over volunteer observations and / or optical imagery.  RADAR offers: a "big picture" view, all weather operation (sees through rain, snow and fog), and twice daily observations if needed.  Before December 2003, ice observations were limited for the most part to volunteer observations made by Town officials and paper mill staff.  These observations formed the basis of model calibration.  Model calibration was quite often difficult since there were only a few vantage points on the riverbank where ice observations could be made.  Ice observation was enhanced in a major way by RADAR imagery.  The accurate location of the ice front reduces the uncertainty associated with the timing of the flood.  The use of RADAR imagery for accurate location of the ice front represents a major improvement in the flood forecast capability for the residents of Badger.  The RADAR images have proved themselves to be absolutely essential to the successful ice progression modelling and calibration effort.   

As part of the data collection network that is critical for the operation of the Ice Progression Model, the Division maintains three hydrometric gauging stations on the Exploits River. One is located in the Town of Badger. It is directly accessible by the Town for use in daily monitoring and emergency situations. 

The other stations are part of the Federal/Provincial Hydrometric network and are also equipped with additional sensors to measure climate data.  One of these stations is located about 28km upstream of the Town of Badger below the confluence of Noel Paul's Brook. The other station, installed in December 2006, is about 1 km below the dam at Red Indian Lake (50km upstream from Badger).

Data from these stations is shown below and is updated automatically throughout the flood forecasting season. Due to the volume and frequent updating of the water level and other data made available on this web site this data is considered to be PROVISIONAL because it has not undergone quality control checks. These data may be subject to significant change.

Most recent conditions in Badger
(Located East of Stadium Looking Downstream)

(Newfoundland Standard Time)

View the web page for this station

Hourly Data for past 7 days - 02YO013 | Excel CSV Format 
Daily Summaries for past 35 days - 02YO013 | Excel CSV Format 

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