We detect ground displacements around an ice-dammed lake (Lake Tiningnilik) in west Greenland, using ERS1/2 and Envisat radar interferograms. We associate those displacements with draining episodes (j¿kulhlaups in Icelandic) that occurred in 1993 and 2003. We confirm those episodes in backscatter intensity images. By assuming a 7.5 meter/year increase in water level and using an elastic loading model, we predict a rate and spatial pattern for the deformation that are in good agreement with the observations. By generating digital elevation models from radar interferograms for both the drained and undrained stages, we validate the inferred lake level changes.