2 FLOOD breaches dikes


community hardest hit by the flooding, faced the prospect of salvaging operations from a 200-year flood event that rancher Karen Mehmal describes as “devastating.” She and her husband John consider themselves lucky, with a ranch house that sits about 1,000 feet above the Kettle River, but downtown Grand Forks was hit hard. Access to banking and other services farmers need has been disrupted. The city has passed bylaws aimed at protecting the city from the kinds of floods seen this year, but the river didn’t pay attention. Dikes built after the 1948 floods were breached. The waters ripped out fence posts and deposited silt and gravel across two of the Mehmals’ hayfields. “We’ve lost about six


kilometres of riparian fence that we will have to replace,” John says. “I’m not sure when


we will be able to get on the fields and clean up the mess. We might miss our first two cuts and be lucky if we could bring in our third cut.” Fred Elsaesser of nearby


Advance Nurseries Co. Ltd. was hit harder. Advance has 350 acres by the Kettle River producing hardy deciduous trees shipped across North America. “The river blew through the


dikes and cut a 100-foot gorge five feet deep across the field,” Elsaesser says. “It took out fencing and the in- ground irrigation infrastructure, including pumps. The field was all in trees and they are either in three feet of sand and gravel or they have floated down river into the United States.” He’s temporarily lost access


to 50 acres, and sales push him over the threshold for government compensation. He would like to see government come through with a comprehensive recovery package that isn’t limited to a single sector. “We are pushing for the


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provincial government to put in place the same emergency response that they put in place for the Cariboo,” he said, noting that nurseries, ranchers and orchardists across the southern Interior will require assistance. “It can’t be industry-specific; it needs to be a whole-[of]-agriculture response.” Elsaesser’s demand is consistent with recommendations regarding the province’s response to flooding in 2017. A bridging program could provide immediate assistance, “stability and hope,” the report said. Vineyards in the southern


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Okanagan were also affected as run-off carved fresh


channels through fields. While much of the flooding was localized, hillside vineyards in Summerland and Okanagan Falls and low-lying areas of Osoyoos were all impacted. The threat wasn’t expected to subside till early June. Meanwhile, in the Fraser


Valley, the freshet fell short of fears. While the forecast called for a peak of 6.7 metres at Mission – enough to rival the 2012 freshet and 70 cm short of the devastating 1948 flood – it peaked at a paltry 6.2 metres.


The BC Ministry of


Agriculture identified just over 50 high-risk dairy farms, primarily on Nicomen and Barnston islands. However, properties separated from the river by local dikes were largely safe, while those adjacent to the Fraser River were inundated. Surveying one such


pasture from the dike protecting Matsqui Prairie, one group of local residents said there was little chance of the local diking system being overtopped following improvements made in response to the 1948 flood. The infrastructure is geared to an event on the scale of 1894, when the river hit 8.9 metres in Mission. A changing climate that has generally reduced the province’s snowpack means a combination of a heavy snowpack followed by a rapid melt and torrential rains would be needed to precipitate a repeat of the 1894 disaster. (Such a combination contributed to the 100-year flood event on New Brunswick’s St. John River this spring.) What worries local growers


most, however, is the damage local dike infrastructure sustains during the annual


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freshet. The heavy streamflows wear away at the base of the dikes, making them vulnerable to collapse. Sustained streamflows also contribute to seepage as the volume of water seeks an outlet and moves up into local fields. The answer is greater funding for dike maintenance, the most recent tranche being pledged last spring in the run-up to the May 2017 provincial election. The BC Ministry of


Transportation and Infrastructure announced $10.5 million to upgrade dikes and pumping stations on Nicomen Island, as well as $1.8 million for Fraser Basin Council assessments of orphaned and unmanaged dikes across the province, including seismic


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JUNE 2018 nfrom page 1


assessments. The work of the Fraser Basin Council would support provincial decisions regarding the acquisition of properties vulnerable to flooding. The recent report on the


province’s response to flooding in 2017 urged a review of the 500 km of dikes in the province. It also encouraged the province to develop a fund for acquiring properties no longer viable in view of disasters. Surrey, for example, is considering the acquisition of 400 properties as part of a “managed retreat” from Crescent Beach rather than raising local dikes by more than eight feet to address rising sea levels. The dikes protect an area home to several farms and lush pasture.


PROJECT funding nfrom page 1


transformative technologies and initiatives that add value to agricultural products and spur innovation. The environment is also a


priority, with “clean growth” and projects related to climate change also heading the list.


Both programs are now accepting applications, with agri-innovation funding applicants having three deadlines. The first of these is June 22. Agri-innovation funding


provided under Growing Forward 2 supported 22 projects in BC, ranging from a dashboard for chicken producers to Okanagan cider blends and artificial insemination of Asian water buffalo. Other projects were seminal in other ways. Demand for fresh local products drove investment in a demonstration of the potential for okra and eggplant cultivation in the Fraser Valley to the tune of $7,000. The University of the Fraser Valley received funding to construct its innovative BioPods at the John Volken Academy in Surrey, which were featured in a recent


series of workshops aimed at encouraging new entrants to get growing. Now that the money has


started flowing, growers and food processors are encouraged to jump in. Growers attending the


Certified Organic Associations of BC Organic annual general meeting in February were told to leverage the available CAP funding to further the strategic priorities of the sector, which include innovation in certification processes and a revamp of records management systems.


Similarly, the 300-plus members of the BC Food Processors Association were encouraged to tap into cash that would help them grow their operations. “Food and beverage


manufacturing thrives in BC in part due to great access to Asian and US markets. 80% of the growth reported by our members in recent years has been through developing export markets,” association CEO James Donald said at the time. “Asia and the US are very interested in the variety and innovation that our members’ products offer.”


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