By Jill Sperling

Lower Nicola residents fear more flooding if temporary berms are removed

Nov 6, 2018 | 2:45 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — The Thompson Nicola Regional District is hosting a community meeting Tuesday evening (Nov. 6) to inform Lower Nicola property owners that the walls of dirt and rock separating their homes from Guichon Creek will soon be dismantled. 

The temporary berms were created as an emergency measure during spring flooding this year and last. 

The TNRD, Emergency Management BC, and the Ministry of Transportation are among the groups that will attend the meeting to discuss options for homeowners, including building their own berms. 

However, residents say they’ve already spent thousands of dollars repairing their properties from the floods, and they worry removing the berms currently in place could spell disaster come next spring. 

Andy Schindler lost 1.5 acres of his property to the flooding of Guichon Creek and he fears he will lose more if the temporary berms are removed. 

Boogie The Bridge

Boogie The Bridge Event Information

Apr 19, 2024

The Tattle of Hastings

THE TATTLE OF HASTINGS: Goodbye, Toledo

6h ago

Question of the Week

Is 'Canada's Tournament Capital' an accurate description of Kamloops?

Apr 22, 2024

“If they take the dikes out, it’ll just re-flood and flood our land again,” he said. “And it won’t just cause a problem for me, it’ll come through this property here and it will just continue right down to the trailer park.” 

The TNRD is mandated by Emergency Management BC to remove any temporary emergency works. 

Because the berms were not properly engineered, they are considered unsafe and it’s unclear whether they would even hold up against another season of powerful floodwaters. 

“They say it’s not engineered; It was placed in an emergency, it’s not engineered,” said Lower Nicola property owner Martin Westerhof. “Well, let’s place it back in with an engineer then, and do it properly if that’s what they need to do. But, let’s not take it out until we have a plan in place.”

Westerhof has been trying to sell his home, but its proximity to the notorious creek has kept buyers at bay. 

“The creek definitely scares people,” Westerhof said. “Is it a two year in a row thing that will never happen again? It’s anybody’s guess. But, even if it never happens again, let’s leave what we have in place here now. It’s our protection. It might be not up to code, but it’s all we have.”

Westerhof and Schindler are among 29 Lower Nicola property owners planning to deny the contractor permission to come onto their land and remove the berms.