Flood Mitigation Items

Tuesday, July 06, 2010 04:16 AM

Prince George, B.C.- It’s been two and a half years since the ice jam and flooding event of the winter of 2007-2008 and the City has been called upon to approve a 5 year strategic plan for flood mitigation.

The full tab for the flood mitigation projects is $42.5 million dollars.

Of that amount nearly $28 million would be required for the acquisition of properties. The Provincial Emergency Program in B.C. has already made it clear that while there may be some funding available for projects, there will be no funding to purchase property.

About $9 million in grants have been approved from other levels of government for the River Road upgrades and the repairs to the bridges at Cottonwood Island Park.

The flood mapping project is paid for ($150 thousand dollars) and it forms the foundation for a new bylaw. Under this new bylaw, the floodplain in downtown is just shy of half a meter higher than it was before.

The new bylaw sets out four flood plain areas:

1- “1 in 20 yr Flood Limit” means an area where there is a one in 20 chance that the Designated Floodlevel could be equalled or exceeded in any one year.

2- “1 in 200 yr Flood Limit” means an area where there is a one in 200 chance that the Designated Flood level could be equalled or exceeded in any one year

3- “Basement Restriction Area” includes areas where the ground level is less than 2.4 m above the Flood construction limit, and includes properties that are vulnerable to high groundwater.

4- “Severe Flood Hazard Area” as delineated on Schedule A includes those areas directly connected to the river channel, where the 200-year flood depth is equal to or exceeds one metre above the current ground level.

The new bylaw has been given the first two readings to allow the public consultation period to begin.

City Staff plan to have stakeholder meetings, an open house and a web page link for people to comment on the new flood plain mapping.

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Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2010 04:16 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: He spoke on July 6 2010 7:18 AM

Dredge the river!

Posted by: Dragonmaster on July 6 2010 8:16 AM

Gravel removal from the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako rivers is the only real fix for this problem.

Posted by: Retired on July 6 2010 10:41 AM

I have another idea. New management at City Hall would also work.
Cheers

Posted by: Loki on July 6 2010 10:51 AM

Do not spend money on this.
Rivers will flood, that cannot be avoided, only delayed. Any effort to contain the river within its normal channel even during flood times, will only increase the damage caused during floods.

The easiest, cheapest, bestest way to deal with it is to simply prohibit any structures on the 200 year flood area. If you have a business on that area, expect to be closed for part of most years.

To illustrate this folly:
Draw a circle on the wall at eye level about the size of your palm.
Strike circle with forehead.
Repeat until realization that man cannot best nature.

Posted by: He spoke on July 6 2010 12:33 PM

The flood levels are not rising, the river bed is rising because of siltation. it is a natural occurence. Dredge the river, when the fishies are not there. seems like a simple solution.

Posted by: Loki on July 6 2010 12:54 PM

"Dredge the river, when the fishies are not there."

When would that be?
It is my understanding that the fishies live in the water 100% of the time.

Posted by: He spoke on July 6 2010 1:12 PM

Nope, not where I go fishing.

Posted by: gus on July 6 2010 1:29 PM

The predicted change in frequency of the flooding and the rate of water flow of the river at certain times of the year are also dependent on the rate of runoff into the rivers upstream. The prediction is that due to the deforestation that has taken place as well as the climate change which is taking place, we can expect an increase in runoff.

We can, of course, ignore tha whole thing.

The way it stands now, the 200 year event moves from the previous eastern boundary at about George Street to the new boundary of about Brunswick.

You want to avoid new structures in that flood plain? Kiss downtown revitalization goodbye and create a much larger "water feature" than even SGOG was proposing.

OR .... learn how to build on flood plains. Almost the entire nation of the Netherlands is built on a flood plain.

Of course, we are not quite as smart about these thngs as the Dutch are, are we?

Posted by: Loki on July 6 2010 2:46 PM

Relocation of the "downtown" could be considered a form of revitalization.

The city is no longer and has not been for almost 100 years dependent on the river as a transport route or sustenance source. Quite simply there is no need to be located where it is now. Escalate the reclamation of that area to wild flood plain. All business' are relocatable so don't bother with the "oh but it will be so hard" crap.

A boat can be defined as a hole in the water into which one shovels money. And so it is with this flood mitigation B.S.

We can throw all the money in the world at it, and it will still flood, still damage properties within its reach. It would be best to just not be there.

A simple policy adjustment by insurers refusing flood or water damage to any business on a flood plain (below Brunswick, as Gus noted) would give the impetus for all the business to relocate out. Reclaim or remove all the man made materials, turn it into one huge park and it is all done at minimal cost to taxpayers.

The rail yard would be the most onerous to relocate, but it is not affected much so it would be the only facility I can see being permitted to remain.

As to the dutch way: They have spent untold dollars and man hours building an extensive dike and pumping system that is not 100% effective. They did it to expand what little land they had. Just last year those dykes were breached.

The moral here: Don't build on a flood plain, dumb@$$!

Posted by: Palopu on July 6 2010 6:16 PM

The CN Rail yard could be relocated to the BCR Industrial site. In fact that is where most of their operation is, since they took over BC Rail.

Seems strange that no one mentioned Alcan and the release of water from the Kenny Dam each spring. I suspect that has some bearing on the areas being flooded.

In any event it makes little difference because the whole project is just the City spendng more money pretending that they know whats going on. In fact they are clueless.

Who is building the Community Energy Centre for $15 Million dollars and where are they building it. Answer the City, and they are building it on the flood plain. So what does that tell you???

Posted by: gus on July 6 2010 9:35 PM

"The rail yard would be the most onerous to relocate"

Actually that is the reverse, as Palopu hinted at. All that is needed is some flat ground or ground that can be made flat, some gravel, if the spoil is not already gravel, and lay some new rail. Other than the recent intermodal building, there is really not much infrastructure there.

I suspect it would cost more to rebuild just the Plaza 400/Ramada than the railyards.

Posted by: dudeinpg on July 8 2010 3:06 PM

"A simple policy adjustment by insurers refusing flood or water damage to any business on a flood plain (below Brunswick, as Gus noted) would give the impetus for all the business to relocate out. Reclaim or remove all the man made materials, turn it into one huge park and it is all done at minimal cost to taxpayers."

Really?? You CAN'T be serious!! Think about that statement for just moment (or longer if you need more time) Are the new buildings for all these businesses going to just appear out of thin air? Is the property at these new locations going to be donated to them? Do they pay for this themselves or will the government (TAXPAYERS) kick in. Who will pay for the new infrastucture (paved roads, water, storm, sewer, cable telus .......) Who would pay for the reclamation of "everything from Brunswick down"? I can tell you that the reclamation alone would be a hell of a lot more than $42.5 million.

gus: Moving the CN Yard would cost less than rebuilding the Plaza 400???? Some flat land and gravel? If you could actually do that, I'm sure CN would hire you and promote you to president on the spot.
Good one though... You guys are funny!

Posted by: dudeinpg on July 8 2010 3:19 PM

I can also tell you that most of the business owners (and other taxpayers)would rather pay the 42.5 million dollars for the mitigation measures and deal with the RARE flooding IF they don't happen to be 100% effective. Lets put this into perspective, buildings are not being washed away from the downtown core here.
But hey, I'm no expert.