Squamish is funnelling $1.8 million into beefing up the municipality’s dike.
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, Sea to Sky Country MP John Weston, Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy and District of Squamish officials gathered at the North Yards dike to announce the infrastructure funding. The municipal, provincial and federal governments each pitched in approximately $603,517 to widen and raise the Squamish River dike for an additional 800 linear metres. Ottawa announced the funding last May.
In 2011, the district initiated a study examining the community’s dike heights and the depth of adjacent rivers. Many of Squamish’s dikes were built in the 1970s. As a result, chunks of the flood protection structures don’t meet the province’s new guidelines, the district’s director of engineering Rod MacLeod told the Squamish Chief in May. The dikes in the North Yards, at the eagle viewing area and near Judd Slough in Brackendale were highlighted as the most critical.
Receiving the grant funding is “fantastic news” that allows the municipality to elevate the dike to the new provincial standards, Squamish mayor Rob Kirkham stated in a press release.
The latest funding will add to work completed last year along the dike in the North Yards neighbourhood. Previously raised sections of the dike beside the West Coast Railway Heritage Museum will be reinforced to combat erosion.
