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How High's the Water Mama?

By Ben Meisner

Thursday, November 26, 2009 03:45 AM

Why in the world would we be recommending to the City of Prince George that the city install water level gauges and a winter flow monitoring program of the Nechako River for a cost of $70,000 dollars?

The pitch is part of round two of the Flood Risk Evaluation and flood control solutions.

If you didn’t attend phase one, back in June, and I can forgive you for not attending, a round table of sorts was held and those who participated were to get their say. It’s a nice way of saying let’s all get-together and then we will decide later what’s best for you.

Case in point, why! Oh ! Why would you want to install water gauges on the Nechako in the city?

Save yourself 70-k, drive a stick into the ground when the water starts to get high, and keep a record of the height on the stick. Furthermore why would you want gauges in the city?  There are already gauges for the measurement of the flow of water at Vanderhoof and Isle Pierre. Write a letter asking to have them operating up to snuff, because I have a surprise for you, the water flows from Vanderhoof through Isle Pierre and then onto Prince George. If you know the flows at either of those centers, even a first year Boy Scout would be able to predict that a flood is on its way.

But then those gauges for some mysterious reason never seem to work.

The gauges on the Fraser seem to have no problem, but it seems when it comes to tracking exactly where the flood flows are coming from, we never seem to be able to produce those figures  on theNechako. Gauge doesn’t work. So let’s spend $2.00 on a special delivery letter, better yet send 5 letters, go whole hog and save the rest of the 70 grand that we are being asked to put up and ask that the feds and the province ensure that all of the monitoring gauges work because we want to know when a flood is on the way, which is exactly why they were put there in the first place.

But wait, if we suddenly know where the floods have been coming from during the winter it just might cast a new light on what we should be doing about preventing those floods. Now we wouldn’t want to know the answer to that question would we?   I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.


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Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2009 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Comment Posted by: Robin on November 26 2009 6:41 AM
We did go to the meeting last night, and the way we see it is that the city did not want input from the properties involved. They did not inform us of the meeting, we read it on Opinion 250 yesterday morning. They already have their minds made up as to what they are going to do. If they just dredge the south side of the river starting from Winton Global to the old Simon Fraser Bridge and open the channel up that would allow the water and ice to flow more freely. I still think that Rio Tinto is the root of the problem by letting that much water out at one time, even though they say the water had already passed by before the big freeze, sorry the river was very high at that time. Rio Tinto will wait until they think that everyone has forgotten what they did and do it again in 8 years,that seems to be the normal span of time 8 to 10 years. Gauges might work if the city puts them in the right place. When the flood happened they asked us where the lowest point of our property is so they could put a gauge there, we told them where and they put the gauge on the highest point, now that was smart, shows us they will do just what the hell they want and you live with it because they always know better, so why ask us at all. I know alot of you here on this site will say that you live by the river you deserve being flooded, well then the whole downtown area deserves it also and the businesses to boot, The whole city should have been built on the Hart and College Heights away from the rivers.
Comment Posted by: Outwest on November 26 2009 7:52 AM
Some of us live by the River others are in the Forest and all of us in BC live in an Earthquake Zone, this is just the way it is and it will not make me move, I love it here.
Comment Posted by: muckermike on November 26 2009 8:01 AM
We need to have decisions like this to maintain our standing as the highest taxpayers in the country!
Comment Posted by: muckermike on November 26 2009 8:01 AM
We need to have decisions like this to maintain our standing as the highest taxpayers in the country!
Comment Posted by: Runner46 on November 26 2009 8:50 AM
Ben,
Great ideas to get a better idea of water levels out and about.

Too simplistic as usual....
Comment Posted by: metalman on November 26 2009 9:31 AM
Robin I for one do not take the attitude that you deserve to be flooded, but if you choose to live there, I assume you take the responsibility for your own property if it gets flooded. I know that I would. I hear the city is going to buy out the private property along the river, meaning you have to move, if that happened to me I would be mad as hell if I actually wanted to stay there. This is supposed to be a free country, if you own the property, and you want to live there, and you take the responsibility for your things if the property floods or washes away, then you should have the right to stay.
metalman.
Comment Posted by: Don Wilkins on November 26 2009 4:20 PM
I will donate a 16 foot 1 X 10 and paint it. We can erect it by the water works near the new Nechako Bridge. That way everybody crossing the bridge can make readings.
Comment Posted by: Robin on November 26 2009 8:46 PM
The city did come and pump out the 6+feet of water around our house at our request, then they put gauge in the wrong place, the, it was up to us to take care of the rest. We did a pretty damn good job ot it because we had 3 sumpumps going 24/7 and a pellet stove to dry what ever was getting wet. We were the last one on the evacuation list, but remained in the house to save it. Maybe not you metalman, but there were many of the posters who were damming us for living here. The city has not approached us to buy us out, even if they did we are not for sale. We were mad as hell because the city does not take peoples homes and lives seriously, that was the intent of my comment.
Comment Posted by: MrPG on November 27 2009 9:01 AM
"The city has not approached us to buy us out, even if they did we are not for sale."

Since when is it the City's responsibility to buy people out who choose to live on a flood plain?

--

"We were mad as hell because the city does not take peoples homes and lives seriously"

"The city did come and pump out the 6+feet of water around our house at our request"

The two comments above seem to be in conflict with one another.