A dam on the Oswegatchie River has failed, causing some areas to overflow and other parts of the river to dry. Our Rachael Paradis has more on what happened and how experts say it could affect the environment.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

HEUVELTON, N.Y. -- In Heuvelton, the Oswegatchie River is missing at some parts and overflowing at others. It's all because a dam gate failed.

Brookfield Power Dam Safety Engineer Jeff Auser said, "One of the flood gates experienced a rupture and that ended up in a total deflation of the flood gate."

The dam has six gates, two of which are inflatable. This is the second time it has failed in ten years.

After the dam broke Tuesday, water levels on the river started to drastically go down. There are some parts that are completely dry. The DEC was at the dam Wednesday to see if there was any damage to the environment. Experts say there could be problems.

Clarkson University Biology Department Professor Michael Twiss said, "If there were nesting grounds for small mouth bass and June is when they nest, if they had nests in areas that are now dry, they're gone. We've lost those fish. Those are aquatic organisms, they need water. Also, there could be an issue with sediment washing down stream."

While north of the dam is dried up, downstream has rushing waters.

Officials with Brookfield Power, the company that controls the dam, says they are unsure what went wrong. They are currently working on a temporary fix.

Auser said, "Securing a gate, getting a temporary bulk head installed upstream and do an investigation to figure out what exactly happened."

Something they hope will be done by next week.