File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

TNRD FLOODING

With completed engineering study, Stump Lake residents wait for flood mitigation work to begin

Oct 20, 2020 | 5:12 PM

STUMP LAKE, B.C — To determine what options they have to mitigate the flood risk for Stump Lake, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District commissioned an engineering study this year.

That report was completed and presented earlier in October. It outlines solutions to reduce the amount of excess water in Stump Lake, and prevent the kind of damaging floods those who live in the area have come to expect.

Stump Lake resident Mike Kidd says he and other were hoping the recent engineering report would mean a flooding solution could be acted on. But aside from residents sandbagging for next year, so far large-scale mitigation work remains at a standstill.

“We are running out of time,” stresses Kidd, “so when the study was done, we thought the resolution would start the next day.”

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The report cited short- and long-term options — improve the existing channel out of Stump Lake and install an outlet pipe system or build a channel through the nearby Guichon Ranch property. Both of these options have been pursued by Stump Lake residents for years.

“They (the TNRD) have been telling us for three years now that they’ll go with whatever results come out of a study,” says Kidd. “Study is here, and now we’re being told they are waiting for legal counsel.”

With downstream impacts in mind, the TNRD’s CAO Scott Hildebrand says the district is seeking legal advice around giving the green light for a solution.

“There’s a lot of people that could be impacted by letting water out of Stump Lake,” notes Hildebrand. “For example, the local ranchers, Nicola Lake residents, First Nations, and even the City of Merritt. So we just need to make sure that we are playing the correct role for the regional district in working with the province and trying to coordinate a solution.”

“At the end of the day we’re kind of that middle man between the resident group and the province, which really has the jurisdiction over the lake and the process to find solutions.”

The other piece of the complex, bureaucracy puzzle would be payment. The engineering report states the Stump Lake outlet plan is estimated to cost $2.2 million and the Guichon Channel plan is estimated at $2.8 million.

“The short-term (solution) is something that could happen immediately if it was something that [Emergency Management B.C.] would help fund. So that’s part of the discussion we’re going to have. And then it could be a year or two before we could have maybe a long term solution but that’s some of the exploration we’re going to do and that’s part of the due diligence phase.”

After rising several feet this year, local resident Randy Bourne says the swollen lake level has only dropped about 19 inches. With another flood looming next spring, Bourne says he and other residents are worried the damage will be even worse than what was seen this past spring.

Bourne says they were hoping to get some of the water out during the dry fall season, so the downstream impacts could be minimized.

“This is October. We’ve probably got two months left of perhaps weather where we could get water out of here before it freezes up,” says Bourne, “So we were extremely disappointed since we’ve been working since 2017 for them to do something.”

Hildebrand says he will be speaking with one of Emergency Management B.C’s deputy ministers this week. By the next board meeting in November, he aims to have a clearer answer for Stump Lake.

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