After a weekend of rain that caused localized flooding, the City of Abbotsford, B.C., is renewing its call for federal dollars to help it prevent, prepare for, and mitigate a flooding disaster.
Mayor Ross Siemens said Monday that the city has not yet heard back from the federal government on the status of its $1.6-billion infrastructure application under the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.
“We are doing our level best. We’ve done everything we possibly can at the municipal level, it now is with the province and the federal government,” Siemens told Global News. “Very frustrating.”
It’s been more than two years since a record-breaking atmospheric river drenched southern B.C., killing five people and tens of thousands of livestock animals and destroying critical infrastructure. It caused the Nooksack River in Washington state to flow across the B.C. border, into the Fraser Valley, breaching the Sumas dike.
Abbotsford, its Sumas Prairie and farmers, were among the hardest-hit by the disaster, which caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage that the B.C. government, and communities, are still working to repair.
Siemens said smaller flooding events — like the weekend’s — now make residents “very anxious.”
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“We lost tens of thousands of animals. This is people’s livelihood. It’s the food source for the province and you just feel so helpless as that water’s rising,” he said.
Abbotsford’s application for federal mitigation funds outlined additional resilience work for the Barrowtown Pump Station, the construction of a new Sumas River pump station, and the creation of a habitat enhancement and flood storage area to enhance protection of the Sumas River.
Global News has reached out to Infrastructure Canada for comment on this story. Its Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund website states that project proposals will be assessed on eligibility and merit, and applicants will be contacted once all proposal assessments are completed.
It does not provide a timeline.
Premier David Eby was in Ottawa on Monday, where he met with Prime Minister Trudeau and other federal officials. In a brief press conference, he said critical infrastructure was top of mind in his discussions.
“We’re expanding Highway 1, but we’re also doing repair work and have done (repair work) following the atmospheric river event, as well as other critical infrastructure for Abbotsford and for other communities across British Columbia,” Eby said.
“Making sure that our national trade corridor of Highway 1 works and stays in operation even in extreme weather events is a critically important shared priority of the federal government and the provincial government, and we do want to see the federal government show up at the table with the money to make real their commitments around this area.”
Through DriveBC, the Ministry of Transportation said Highway 1 had closed in both directions between Lytton and Spences Bridge due to flooding on Monday. The Lower Fraser Valley, including Abbotsford, remained under a flood watch issued by the B.C. River Forecast Centre.
In an emailed statement, the B.C. Ministry of Emergency and Climate Readiness said it has provided more than $102 million to support Abbotsford’s recovery from the 2021 floods, and resilience against future disasters.
That includes $62 million for a new well and water treatment system, $3.2 million in upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station, $13.2 million for homeowners, tenants, small businesses, charities, and farms, and more.
It ha also signed a multi-government agreement with the Semá:th, Matsqui and Leq’á:mel First Nations, Abbotsford and the City of Chilliwack to make Sumas Prairie more resilient to flooding.
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