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Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 PM40008236
Vol. 54 No. 8 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (HST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Proposed fix doesn’t go far enough Hummingbird Creek: Residents continue to push for replacement of highway culvert.
By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Swansea Point residents are far from content with the province’s plan for flood mitigation along Hummingbird Creek. Last Wednesday, representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure attended a public meeting at the Swansea Point Fire Hall to outline their plan to repair the creek. MOTI district manager Murray Tekano said work would begin Monday, Feb. 18, to restore the creek to the condition it was in prior to the June 23, 2012 flash flood, so that it would be able to handle a one-in-200 year flood based on “clear flow” modelling (i.e.: flooding without debris such as the trees and boulders that came down Hummingbird Creek in the destructive 1997 and 2012 flash floods). This second phase of work at Swansea Point, said Tekano, will include the removal of rock and other debris from the creek bed. The section from Mara Lake up to the culvert under Highway 97A will be lowered by a meter. In addition, the creek will be “armoured” with rip-rap rock up to the highway, and along portions on the upper channel, including where water ripped away large chunks of residential property, along with rip-rap. What the ministry will not do is replace the culvert, which was identified by the majority of residents as necessary to mitigate future debris flows similar to the one in June, when the culvert was rapidly plugged, forcing the torrent over the highway and through residential areas. Swansea Point Community Association president Dan Keely says residents are pleased to finally see action from the province to address the creek. At the same time, he says they are dissatisfied, and will likely remain so until the culvert is addressed.
Needs work: Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure district manager Murray Tekano listens patiently as Swansea Point resident Barry Beardsell expresses his concerns over the ministry’s proposal to repair Hummingbird Creek. Photo by Lachlan Labere “I feel if they don’t replace that culvert, tics to engineering. the same thing is going to happen, whether “The problem started with the clearcuts it’s next year, or the year after… It’s going above. That’s where it started and, over the to happen again,” says Keely, noting how years, the debris has worked its way down,” even when there isn’t a dramatic debris commented Dan Danyluk, a retired engiflow, water tends to bottleneck at the cul- neer. “And right now, the culvert is adequate vert come freshet. for the water. But “Because the culcertainly it’s not vert will not take adequate for the debris away, as debris. And it’s soon as you get a the debris that has And right now, the culvert is adequate big log down that caused both of the stream, it blocks incidents here in for the water. But certainly it’s not that culvert… ’97 and last year.” adequate for debris. And it’s the debris And if we have a What resithat has cause both of the incidents freshet that’s godents are seeking here in ’97 and last year. ing to be as big is either a larger Dan Danyluk as people imagculvert, one that ine it’s going to would allow the be, and if we get debris to flow some rain with it, it’s going to happen this through, or a bridge, such as the one includyear.” ed in a $4 million project proposed by the The importance of replacing the culvert province in 2004 that never came to fruiwas repeatedly stressed at the meeting by tion. locals of varying backgrounds, from poliTekano, however, said the existing cul-
vert is in “pretty good condition,” and meets the province’s requirements for a clear flow event. But he also said the ministry would be studying the culvert’s effectiveness over the spring. “I am not saying there’s going to be a bridge built, or there’s going to be anything more done than that,” said Tekano. “But we are looking at more options that we can do. And at some point that culvert will need to be replaced; it’s not going to last.” Columbia Shuswap Regional District Area E director Rhona Martin called the proposed work a Band-aid, and questioned what the province would be doing in the way of ongoing monitoring of the creek. Tekano said an excavator would be left on site as a precaution during freshet. Martin also took a shot at the province, suggesting the creek is finally being addressed to “maybe take some of the pressure off these people have been putting on the premier and Minister (Shirley) Bond’s staff, and yourselves.” See Political pressure on page 3