Atmospheric river causes Coquihalla River to cut right through Hope golf course

The volunteers who take care of a golf course in Hope, B.C., are dealing with the devastation from last week’s atmospheric river, after a channel of the Coquihalla River cut right through the green.

The group is now asking the province to help them deal with the fallout at the Hope Golf & Country Club.

“When the bigger of the three (atmospheric) rivers came through this week, it eroded away the bank of the golf course number eight hole and charged its way through number four green and through number seven fairway, creating a whole new channel for the river that is probably taking, at this moment, half of the flow of the Coquihalla,” Steve Wilson, president of the Hope Golf & Country Club Society told Global News.

He said the new ‘river’ has isolated the number seven green and the number eight tee boxes, meaning the club may have to abandon that area and find a new plan.

The club was already hit hard by the record-breaking atmospheric rivers in 2021, but this weather pattern has taken over about 15 per cent of the course, Wilson explained.

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“The island that was created, mostly during the ’21 flood, is responsible for pushing the river further toward the golf course and away from the district residences, but certainly pushed it towards us and now it has a pretty straight shot from the bridge through to the Fraser River.”

Wilson said the golf course was built and is managed by volunteers who put in a lot of time and effort to keep the place open and running.

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Hope Mayor Victor Smith said the golf course was one of the biggest areas to get hit by the storm.

He said he had a conversation with Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene on Sunday to ask the province for help, but not for money.

The district wants permission from the provincial government to dig up the “island” of rocks and debris that has been building in the river for years, because that is what forced the water to run towards the golf course last week.

“This thing was built on volunteers and the love of our community, this is how this whole thing happened,” Smith said, referring to the golf course.

“We have a huge volunteer base and this place would not happen without the love of our community.”

Smith said the channel is not going to change, now that it has chartered a course through the golf course, but they need to find a way to work around it.

“We have got to get an emergency plan in place here so that this place survives,” he added.

Smith said he hopes to speak with Greene and her ministry in the new year.