Yellowknife, N.W.T. - It's officially May and that means the threat of the break-up in Hay River is becoming more real each day.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the low to mid-double digits for the next 14 days, which could spell problems, but there's been a bit of a break so far.

Councillor Kevin Wallington said the warm temperatures have actually been a good thing because they alleviate the threat of build-up.

"The ice is deteriorating and we don't have a high volume of water coming down from upriver as we have in the past. So as things stand right now we're looking to see the ice breaking up in the next couple of days, but I don't think that we're anticipating any major issues at this point."

The pressure ridge on the lake was knocked down this year to help with any water that may come in because if it combined with the water flowing from the river into the lake, Wallington said that would be a big problem.

"If the water goes out on the lake and it hits that pressure ridge then it could come back into town and the water coming back with the water going out is what could create some problems with flooding as well."

Another threat is high turbidity levels in the water, but it's still safe to use at this point.

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