Local government official warns of potential ‘catastrophic failure’ of culvert system in rural Oliver

UPDATE: 7 P.M.
An Evacuation Alert under a Local State of Emergency has been issued for 16 properties in the area of Sportsmens Bowl Road in the rural Oliver area.

“This road has the potential to be closed by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure at the junction of Highway 97,” a release from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) stated Tuesday evening.

Flooding continues to undermine the road and may make it impassable, according to the RDOS.

Vehicles inside the area when it is closed will become trapped, which means residents are advised to make alternative arrangements for parking as soon as possible.

ORIGINAL STORY:
A local government official says “everyone needs to be aware that there is a potential for catastrophic failure” of the culvert system below Secrest Hill Road in rural Oliver.

Terry Schafer, Area C director with the regional district of Okanagan Similkameen, said the two 36-inch culverts are “running at full capacity” and may not be able to handle additional upstream inflows.

“If the water keeps coming up on the upside of this road and saturates the road bed it could result in a catastrophic failure which could be devastating,” he said while showing Global Okanagan the site.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If the water keeps coming up on the upside of this road and saturates the road bed it could result in a catastrophic failure which could be devastating," he said while showing Global Okanagan the site.

Residents who live in the Sportsmens Bowl Road area are experiencing significant flooding due to the drainage of dams and removal of culverts upstream in the community of Willowbrook, B.C.

Schafer said municipal and provincial officials don’t have much choice but to order Kearns Creek dam and an unauthorized dam on private property to be lowered or they could be at risk of breaching, which would be devastating to the people who live there.

“The Willowbrook area flows a little bit more easily now that culvert work and other works have been done to allow the water to flow through,” Schafer said. “Now it’s coming down to Sportsmens Bowl and Park Rill system.”

Joe Eckenswiller owns a home off Highway 97 and Sportsmens Bowl Road. The creek flows through the property and is overflowing. Walls of sandbags have been erected to keep the creek within its banks.

“I got two pumps pumping there and a third pump pumping here,” he said.

His neighbour, Ross Zahrabi, said sediment and debris needs to be removed from the creeks and the oxbow to improve the flow of water through the area.

“No action is done, just the talk,” he said.

https://twitter.com/Shelby_Thom/status/983785089065566209

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "No action is done, just the talk," he said.</p><p>https://twitter.com/Shelby_Thom/status/983785089065566209

“All the trenching and helping of Willowbrook and areas, which they need, and we understand they have to drain these lakes and dams, but they’re not making any plans down here where all of the water comes to,” Eckenswiller added.

Sportsmens Bowl Road is washed out and has been transformed into a raging creek.

Property owners in the area have been asked to prepare to evacuate should the situation worsen.

“They really need to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice,” Schafer said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They really need to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice," Schafer said.

He said agencies are doing everything they can to prevent a disaster “but what we need is Mother Nature give us a break.”