Water at new Iqaluit cemetery will be ongoing seasonal issue, says deputy mayor

City workers were back again this year pumping water off graves at Iqaluit's new cemetery on Friday.

The cemetery, which opened last year, is located on a low-lying piece of land. The soft soil is good for digging, but the soggy location is a mess this time of year and last year a grave flooded with water before a burial.

"We dealt with this last year, actually, digging graves in the spring time and having the same problem with them filling with water, because at this time of year there is a lot of water and we had to go pump them out," said Romeyn Stevenson, the city's deputy mayor.

"At this time of year, this is something that is going to be ongoing with the cemetery. I don't see it as a major problem."

Plots dug in frozen soil during the winter thaw and sink in the spring, he says, and then runoff pools in the sunken areas. Workers are pumping the water out and filling in the sunken areas with more soil. 

Stevenson says despite no long term fix, the cemetery won't be moved from its location.