Province Committed To Continued Flood Support

Friday, February 01, 2008 03:57 AM

The Premier stopped in Prince George for a news conference and awards dinner

Prince George, B.C. - There is no upper limit to the amount of financial support the province will offer during the Nechako ice jam crisis...

The latest figure on the City's tab is $4-million dollars for flood mitigation and relief efforts. The estimate on costs incurred by Provincial Emergency Program officials, locally, was in the range of $1-million dollars as of last week.

But Premier Gordon Campbell says his government will spend whatever it takes to get affected residents and the City through this disaster. "So we're going to take care of those folks, we're going to make sure that they get back on their feet as quickly as they can, get back in their homes -- if they can -- as quickly as they can."

"If their insurance doesn't cover them, we want to make sure that they know that we're there to help them in different ways"

Although Mayor Colin Kinsley confirmed at the unveiling of the Warm Water System on Wednesday that the government had agreed to fund a study to look at the flood risks and find long-term solutions, Campbell made it official yesterday with the announcement of $200-thousand dollars for the study.

The provincial government, itself, has committed to spending $100-million dollars over the next 10-years to provide for permanent flood solutions -- projects like permanent diking. And the Premier says he believes Ottawa will ante up, as well. "I think that the federal government is going to come to the table with regard to this -- I was talking with Stockwell Day about it again just about a week ago -- and I'm confident that we will have the kind of support from the federal government that we had in the past."

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Posted on Friday, February 01, 2008 03:57 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Ticker on February 1 2008 6:21 AM

The selling point of the Kenny dam to locals was to control floods on the Nechako.

Government and industry should keep their promise to control floods on the Nechako and build a spillway to the Pacific.

Ticker

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 1 2008 9:22 AM

Good idea Ticker,but don't hold your breath on the government keeping any promises anytime soon!
They will go with whatever solution benefits government pockets and big business the most.
It has very little to do with what is actually right!

Posted by: Ticker on February 1 2008 10:01 AM

Fraid you are right Andyfreeze.

There has been a rumor around for years that part of a spillway is already built.

Is there anyone who worked on the original tunnel who can update us?

Posted by: northman on February 1 2008 10:20 AM

The stench of election is in the air!

Posted by: Palopu on February 1 2008 9:05 PM

Ticker. Part of the Kemano 2 project was built before it was stopped by the NDP Government. This project would have taken half or more of the water from the Nechako and diverted it into the Pacific Ocean while producing more electricity for Alcan.

Problem is it would basically kill the river,and the fish, and at certain times of the year you would be able to wade across the river. Killing Kemano 2 was probably the one and only thing that I would give the NDP credit for, and it was a big one.

Anyone who thinks that Kemano 2 should be reconsidered and the Nechako killed just to avoid water in his basement should have his head examined, however there are some who think this way. Even though they built on a flood plain.

Posted by: Ticker on February 2 2008 5:01 AM

Palopu, I am well aware of the contribution of Mr. Harcourt towards the sustainability of the Nechako river.

A spillway to the Pacific is about mitigating natural disasters�avalanches taking down power lines, high snow packs and now the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

Ticker