Is the District of Squamish like that little Dutch boy who, as legend would have it, put his finger into the dike to plug a small leak and prevent the sea from flooding his town, only to have leaks open elsewhere while the town fathers fretted over what to do next - as the heroic little boy stood there patiently?
It would appear that the analogy isn't all that far off the mark.
The recent discovery of a sinkhole along the crest of the dike just north of Brackendale is this week being termed a "wake-up call" indicating that work formerly identified as "high priority" is now urgently needed to avert a potential disaster for homes and businesses in the Republic during the next real high-water event.
Make no mistake: The district has undertaken plenty of work on flood control upgrades in Brackendale and elsewhere since the 2003 flood - a flood that saw considerable seepage or "piping" through/under the dikes in both the Eagle Run and Fisherman's Park areas. Since then, officials have removed gravel and other sediment from the Squamish River upstream from Brackendale, and in March the DOS finished work on a new pump station and flap gate at Fisherman's and raising the dike both there and in North Yards.
That, it would now appear, was akin to the little boy putting his finger in the dike. With this most recent information, one has to wonder whether, in reinforcing dikes and upgrading flood-control mechanisms in one area, officials aren't simply increasing the chances of dike failure elsewhere.
One also has to wonder how much we - and by that we mean the engineers who have been helping determine how best to prioritize and allocate the money that's available to carry out the upgrades - really know about the structural integrity of those sections of dike that have been deemed not as urgent as others. How much would it cost to carry out a ground-penetrating radar analysis of all segments that haven't recently been upgraded -and where sinkholes haven't so fortuitously appeared to warn of an impending failure?
In 2003, which some called the 200-year flood, it was extremely fortunate that property damage in Brackendale and elsewhere within the built-up areas of town was minimal. We wish the DOS's recently promoted director of engineering, Rod MacLeod, success in his efforts to ensure a similar outcome the next time around.
- David Burke
