City to Apply for Flood Mitigation Funding

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 12:01 PM

Cottonwood Island River Trail runs along top of River Road dike on the south side of the Nechako River. Photo- Opinion250 staff

The City of Prince George will be applying for funding under the Urgent Flood Mitigation Workls program with the Provincial Government.

The details of the application will be released to Council at the upcoming meeting, but Opinion 250 has learned the funding request will focus on shoring up the River Road dikes.

The Urgent Flood Mitigation Works program has already made more than $23 million dollars available to communities throughout B.C. to prepare for possible floods this spring. The snowpack throughout the province is 120 - 150+ % above normal. There is significant snowpack on the lower elevations as well.

In Prince George, Kelly Gilday, the Chief Fire Prevention Officer, is co-ordinating the emergency planning for possible flooding. "We have an extra 10 thousand sandbags ready, bringing the total number of sandbags on hand to 50 thousand." says Gilday. "We have also checked the condition of the dikes and made sure all pumps and flood gates are ready." He says there have been several conference calls with provincial officials so there is as much advance information as possible.

He says while the Nechako has risen somewhat, the Fraser is already showing increased flows as its level has come up 3- 4 feet.

The high snowpack and Alcan’s release of higher than usual amounts of water through the Skins Lake spillway to the Nechako River, have increased the concerns about flood potential.

This evening, Alcan and the Provincial Water Comptroller will attend a public meeting at the Vanderhoof Friendship Centre. That session gets underway at 7:00 p.m.

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