The floodwaters of Stump Lake continue to encircle the Nickles’ home like a moat, slowly creeping higher and higher.
“The lake has continued to rise. It will just not go down,” Devon Nickle said.
The couple said they were shocked to see drone video of the lake from above.
“It’s one thing when you walk around this property and try to fight it, but when you see it from the air of what we’re living in — we’re literally in a lake,” Debbie said.
Devon estimates the lake rose more than half a centimetre on Thursday, and they’re still expecting more rain over the weekend.
The couple said they spend virtually every waking hour sandbagging their dream home.
“It’s grief. It’s our home, our life is dying in front of us, and we can’t do anything about it,” Debbie said.
Time is of the essence, and they’re desperate for a solution.
“We’re running out of volunteers, we’re running out of help. They’re tired,” Devon said.
“I’ve suggested what we need around this lake is the armed forces,” Debbie added.
Some local residents are calling for a state of local emergency to be declared.
“You go around the lake, and you see, it’s definitely a state of local emergency there,” property owner Spencer Bass said.
However, the Thompson Nicola Regional District said declaring a state of emergency would not give it any additional tools that it isn’t already using to respond to the situation.
“Our thoughts are with those affected, and we’re doing everything we can as a local government to support them,” spokesperson Kevin Skrepnek said in an email. “However, there is no public safety at risk that we are currently aware of.”
Local residents blame the flooding on a dam that was built on a creek decades ago that now prevents water from draining out of the lake.
Bass also believes climate change and the effects of the pine beetle have contributed to flooding.
“With the pine beetle kill, those trees haven’t provided that cover, so the melt has happened a lot faster, and when the water comes into the lake a lot faster, it can’t absorb it,” Bass said.
Instead of spending millions of dollars on raising the highway because of flooding every year, Bass wants to see the government excavate the creek outflow during this dry season
“They expect it to be $50,000 to $80,000 to do the excavation, and probably another $60,000 or so in studies, to ensure that things were being done properly,” Bass said.
The province said that draining the lake would have serious consequences downstream.
However, residents believe that if something isn’t done, downstream residents could get washed out anyways because the lake can’t handle any more water.
The regional district and province have announced that they are spending a total of $50,000 to conduct a study to look at options, including the possibility of a structure that would control lake levels without negatively impacting downstream users.
The study is expected to be finished in September, according to the regional district.
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