PEP To Get Hot Water Plan Today

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George is expected to deliver it’s proposal   to melt the Nechako River Ice jam with  a hot water treatment  to the Provincial Emergency Program today. 

For the project to be approved and receive funding from the Province, Provincial Emergency  Program  Director Jim Whyte  says  the  project will  have to pass several  hurdles.  “It will have to be costed  out  and will have to have the approval of the regulators (Federal Fisheries, and Provincial Ministry of the Environment) and it has  to have a strong likelihood of success “.

The  idea  would have  hot water  diverted from the pulp mills and injected into the  ice jam in three spots, one at the mouth of the Nechako, one  half way  to the Cameron Street  Bridge, and one  at the Cameron Street Bridge.  The 20 degree Celsius water would be injected at a rate of 500 gallons per minute.  The current flow rate of the Nechako is 250 -285 Cubic metres per second.

When it comes to mid and longer  term  solutions,  Whyte says there are  a number of options,  including  taking a long look at gravel removal from the Nechako River to  maintain the channels,  and permanent diking.  The  real difficulty is trying to  design a protection plan for an  area that already exists “In some cases there may not be enough room between the river  and the  industry for a dike, so  there may be some people who  are going to find themselves on the wrong side of the dike. “  All of the efforts to mitigate future flood damage   will require funding, and  the Province has  committed  $100 million dollars for projects that will mitigate flood damage.

Whyte says there is some encouraging news “The  latest jam compression did not  see  any surge of water,  so that says to me the water has carved out channels under the ice, so  maybe Mother Nature is going to look after this.”

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