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RIVERSIDE PARK IMPROVEMENTS

Flood protection work in Riverside Park should be complete by the end of May

Apr 20, 2022 | 4:53 PM

KAMLOOPS — Work is progressing at Riverside Park, where the City of Kamloops has undertaken a flood mitigation project along the Rivers Trail.

A large portion of the park has been closed to the public since last November when work began on the project. Since then, crews have been raising the level of the Rivers Trail along the riverbank to the 20-year flood level.

Utility Services Manager Greg Wightman says the flood mitigation portion of the work should be completed later this spring.

“There is flood protection work going on right now, there’s a wall being built that will hopefully blend nicely into the park and will increase access to the beach,” Wightman explains. “We will be protected to a one-in-twenty year event, with the ability to deploy temporary flood protection measures along an asphalt path – so if we do need to deploy Hesco baskets again, the cleanup will be significantly easier and hopefully less costly.”

Cool temperatures so far this spring have delayed the freshet up to this point. However, Wightman says the City is keeping a close eye on conditions in case the weather warms up and streams around town start to rise.

“The next thing we’re going see around here is the rise of the smaller streams around town – Noble Creek, Campbell Creek, Heffley [Creek] – that’s what we’re keeping our eye on, right now. Those are quickly impacted by severe weather, so if we do get some very warm weather in the next couple of weeks, we may see those rise quite quickly. The larger rivers – the North and South Thompson – it’s usually the first week of June when we see the peak.”

Wightman expects the flood mitigation portion of the project will be complete before the end of May.