Nicola River through Merritt (image credit - CFJC Today)
Spring Freshet

Merritt officials not worried about upcoming freshet

Apr 11, 2022 | 4:09 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — While the freshet situation in Kamloops brings with it a heightened concern for flooding, down the Coquihalla in Merritt, city officials are feeling good about avoiding another natural disaster.

Merritt is still working to recover from the November floods along the Coldwater River, but with freshet upcoming, attention at city hall is focused towards the Nicola river and potential spring runoff.

“It’s never beyond the realm of possibility that we could still see flooding circumstances as a result of freshet. But our concern is actually leaning a little bit toward the drought side of the scale right now with what we’re seeing in terms of snowpacks for both the Nicola and Coldwater Rivers,” said Merritt CAO Sean Smith.

Smith recently made a presentation to the community, confirming that current river levels are comparable to last spring, when the city didn’t see any overland flooding.

“Our snowpacks look comparable, if not a little bit less than what we had last year and we didn’t see any real freshet concerns in 2021. I would anticipate so long as we don’t see historic amounts of rain that we would be in a great position coming into freshet,” added Smith.

Smith continued to mention that along with the low figures, temporary flood mitigation work remains in place along the Coldwater River.