Looming end date still in place for Noble Creek Irrigation System – but hope springs eternal

In spring, council voted to decommission the system as of the end of the 2023 growing season. The decision was hastened by severe erosion at the intake site on the North Thompson River that has threatened catastrophic loss of the city’s infrastructure — an eventuality that is estimated to cost millions of dollars to clean up.

A small amount of rip rap was put in place ahead of this year’s spring freshet to stem the erosion. However, because it was installed under a state of emergency with the freshet in mind, it must be removed once the emergency has abated.

Earlier this month, the system’s pumps were shut off due to historic low levels pushing the North Thompson below the intake’s operating level.

Agricultural users who rely on the system have few other options to ensure their crops and gardens survive. They came to Tuesday’s meeting angry about council’s decommissioning decision and pleading for council to reconsider.

“We’re right here. We’re your community. We are your community as a whole and we provide benefits to the community, so you guys needed to come and talk to us before making these decisions,” said Adam Woodward, who heads up the fledgling Noble Creek Irrigation Society.

“City council and city staff, you failed us,” added Carole Gillis. “You failed us by not letting us know ahead of time what we needed to do.”

“We, too, pay taxes,” she added. “We, too, pay to pump water up to Aberdeen and to have shoulders on the streets downtown that we don’t have. That’s how a city works.”

Several councillors made efforts to impress upon the users how agonizing the decision-making process has been, and how they must weigh their responsibilities to the users against the liability to all city ratepayers if the intake were to collapse into the river.

“None of us here want to shut the water off. We didn’t go out there last Friday and say, ‘Shut the water off. The bell went off,'” said Councillor Bill Sarai. “We tried to figure out a way to keep it going and we’re still trying to do that, but what we’re saying is, we’re at such a spot now that, liability-wise, we can’t let it keep going on the way the system is set up now.”

“We cannot put aside our responsibility to the entire community,” added Councillor Nancy Bepple. “We cannot say, ‘Yes, we will put your interests above everybody else’s interests.'”

City staff say even if council opted to approve major fortification work at the intake site so the system could continue operating safely, it’s unlikely to meet provincial regulations.

“Money has never been a problem since 2020. That’s not what’s prevented this project from going,” said Utility Services Manager Greg Wightman. “It’s the approval from the Ministry of Forests Water Management Group. [The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans] has not been a challenge. I’m not saying that the province has been difficult — those are the regulations we have to meet.”

In addition to the report, council also directed staff to send a letter to Forests Minister Bruce Ralston, spelling out the impacts of decommissioning the system unless the ministry signs off on keeping the emergency rip rap in place. City officials will request a meeting with Ralston at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, slated for September 18 to 22 in Vancouver.

In the meantime, the city will begin the process of transferring its water license for the Noble Creek system to the 41 users. Wightman notes it will need to be split up between them in some fashion, as the users have not yet formed a corporation to operate the system as it is.

“The bottom line is, there’s no ideal solution here at this point. If council were to direct us today to run this until 2024, I can’t guarantee that we’re going to be able to do that, so it won’t provide the assurance the customers are looking for,” said Wightman. “We’re in a really precarious and challenging position.”

by James Peters

Looming end date still in place for Noble Creek Irrigation System – but hope springs eternal

Our Community