During a recent Committee of the Whole meeting, a contingent of Brackendale residents gave council an earful about what they considered an objectionable assertion contained in the District of Squamish Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan report.
That document designates some areas of Brackendale as high-risk flood zones because of uncertainty related to the existing dike system’s capacity to withstand a serious flooding event.
Local developer Don McCargar told council lending institutions are reluctant to deal with him because his property at the west end of Depot Road now falls under a hazardous site classification and as a result, the value of his land has dropped 60 per cent.
“It’s far too late to tell people not to live there,” he said. “We need to fix the dikes and let Squamish go forward. In the past, our diking system was close to the right height, now the insurance companies are saying we have a liability issue here.”
A number of other speakers at the meeting echoed similar concerns about their property being devalued and added that many areas of the Squamish Valley have been prone to serious flooding for as long as they can remember without being adversely singled out as high-risk flood zones.
Longtime Brackendale resident Russ Roy said, “I think we’re all in agreement we need a new dike. There’s no use in council sitting on their hands on this one.”
According to the flood hazard report, the Squamish Valley faces flood challenges from the Squamish, Mamquam, Cheakamus, Cheekeye and Stawamus rivers. In addition, there are debris flow hazards from the Cheekeye River and smaller local creeks, as well as coastal flood and tsunami potentials in Howe Sound.
In February, municipal engineer David Roulston told attendees at a public open house the $4 million that district officials spent on diking since 2012 was just a “drop in the bucket” compared to what is required to reduce flooding vulnerability. Another issue that was raised was the lack of information about future costs or timelines to upgrade current dikes to a minimum 200-year level of protection.
Brackendale resident Edith Tobe, executive director of the Squamish River Watershed Society, voiced additional concerns during the meeting. “I dig down in my back yard two or three feet and I’m at the water table,” she said. Her concern is that water levels could be pushed up even farther to the surface after fill is added to high-density developments planned for Brackendale.
In the final analysis, when it comes to flood hazard management, it looks like the district will be hard-pressed to address a deluge of discontent.
