Want To Stop Nechako Flooding, Better Start At Confluence With Fraser

By Ben Meisner

I am no Hydrologist, nor an Engineer in any degree, my comments on the flooding of the Nechako come from living on the Nechako for 31 years watching the ice come and go and the river rise and fall.

I also can say that I have driven the length and breadth of the Nechako River many times  from its confluence of the Fraser to the Stewart and from there on up through Takla Lake and the Driftwood River, some 400 kilometers from here.

I also can say that I have driven the Nechako River from Prince George to Cheslatta falls many times.

I have made these trips in time of flood and in times of drought. Anyone that knows me understands my deep passion for this river.

I have watched frazzle ice forming to the bottom of the river as winter approaches, and I have watched the groaning sounds of the river as it gives way to spring and the ice breaks way.

I also can say that I traveled from the Nechako into the Fraser more times that I can recall. Many of you who read this item will remember when I may have pulled you off a sand bar in that section of the river.

I say that section because if you have an understanding of the confluence of the Nechako and the Fraser you will understand that the sediment that comes downstream from the Nechako meets the Fraser settles there. I am sure that it has been happening fro hundreds of years and that is why I believe that a series of dikes along the Nechako within the city will have only a limited hope of success.

Every single year, the Nechako lattices out at the confluence of the Fraser, it has been doing this for centuries. The result is that there are always six or seven channels leading into the Fraser come fall or early spring. These channels are usually between 6 inches and 14 inches deep and criss cross the Fraser flats heading to the main channel of the Fraser.

Twenty years ago , The Pickering’s were taking gravel from the confluence and the result was generally there was a channel built every year that allowed the spring freshet to make its way to the Fraser. That has all changed and the build up has continued.

There is one channel that has remained fairly constant along the north bank of the Nechako that heads into the Fraser basically upstream of the confluence. It is narrow but it has been deep. It is unfortunately not large enough to take the ice and water flow we have experienced If you look at the flood pictures you will see that this channel was the one that opened up to allow part of the jam to move towards the Fraser.

So what will happen, well we will construct a series of dikes that will hold the water in them to what height. Remember of course that if a jam occurs in this element that water will back up flooding the areas upstream on the Nechako or it will find its way under the gravel and reappear as ground water somewhere else.

If we don’t find away to dredge the Nechako in such a fashion that we have a stream bed that the ice can follow, we are doomed to failure. It is only matter of time before an ice jam will spill its banks into the community being unable to have that water reach the Fraser. Dikes may be a stop gap measure but unless serious attention is given to the huge flat sitting at the mouth of the Nechako it will be only a matter of time.

 I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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