Warm Water Treatment Ended When Province Turned Off Money Tap
By 250 News
Prince George, B.C. - Controversy continues to swirl around the River Rd berm.
The City of Prince George says Lyle Larson of the Ministry Of Environment recommended the City keep the berm in place. No so, says the province, we don’t own the road nor do we have any jurisdiction over River Rd beyond looking at a request by the city to have the grading of the berm paid for out of the Provincial Emergency Program.
Some companies who operate along River Rd say their business has been critically impacted by the berm which in some areas is up to 3 meters high. Some even suggest that River Rd was raised in order to accommodate the new Cameron St Bridge.
Not so says Frank Blues, Asset Management and Downtown projects. Blues says the new Cameron St. Bridge will not require River Rd to be raised.
The Province has been saying they have no jurisdiction over River Rd. "The emergency is over, and the gabion dikes will be removed just as soon as the frost is out of the ground. We cannot, nor are we interested in telling the City what to do with River Rd " Pat Bell, Minister of Agriculture said earlier.
The Province says the dikes are in many cases on private property and should be removed.
Bob Radloff, the General Manager of Development Services and Operations for the City, said Lyle Larson of the Ministry of the Environment had recommended the River Road berm remain in place. On the other hadn, the Province says Larson does not have the authority to make such a recommendation.
At the same time it was learned that the warm water treatment (which had the City construct a pipe line from Canfor pulp to the Nechako River upstream of the confluence of the Fraser) ended after the Province said it would no longer fund the warm water treatment.
The cost of the project was about $400,000 dollars and the daily cost to operate the system was estimated at about $3,000 dollars. No official figures have been made available.
Requests for that information are delayed because the final figures are not available according to Bob Radloff. He says the City is examining the warm water treatment in its flood studies because it was felt the Amphibex could not have broken open the ice jam had the water from the city wells not been applied beforehand.
Critics on the other hand say the opening of the river by that water was 100 meters away from where the Ampibex did open a channel, reducing water levels. Up until it was shut off, the warm water treatment opened the channel only a few hundred meters downstream of where it was applied.
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Posted by: realitysetsin on March 28 2008 7:20 AM
For years the city insisted a berm stay in front of my property, which would not allow the water to follow natural drainage to the ditch. I fought with the city for three years about the flooding that happened every year.
Finally I just went onto the city RoW and removed the damn. The city was really REALLY mad! But they could not replace it or make me replace it as under the Water Act that would be against my rights and interests, and an illegal act if the city attempted to replace the damn under the LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT — [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 323, Part 15 – Specific Regional District Service Powers Division 6 — Sewers, Storm Drains and Drainage.
The businesses along River Road face a stubborn and experienced administration. It could take years to resolve, the city has more money that they do, and no time limit, good luck.