More money for flood protection is coming to Grand Forks.
Local and regional dignitaries gathered at 68th Avenue and 2nd Street Monday afternoon (May 27) as MLA Roly Russell announced $5 million dollars for dike construction and drainage to protect South Ruckle.
Russell made the announcement on behalf of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Bowinn Ma.
“I want to acknowledge the work that the City of Grand Forks has done as well as the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. It takes a lot of us paddling together to get us to a place where we can have an announcement like this,” Russell said.
He noted the province has spent over $38 million to date on flood mitigation work in the city.
The South Ruckle work will cost $5,509,846 to complete, according to the city’s flood mitigation capital plan. The city has spent $121,024 so far on the project as of the end of April.
Mayor Everett Baker says the South Ruckle dike will protect a lot.
“Which includes over a hundred homes, the industrial park and the city works facilities that protect our water treatment and infrastructure. It’s taken a lot to get to this stage and there is still more work to come,” Baker said.
The mayor said the South Ruckle dike and the Downstream Industrial dike are in the design stage.
In April, city council passed resolutions to authorize borrowing $4.1 million from reserves for five flood projects including the South Ruckle dike and drainage.
Baker was asked by Vista Radio if the city didn’t need to use those reserve funds.
“No, I wish that was the case,” he said. Baker said city council wanted to make sure the mitigation work could continue while it sought funding from the provincial and federal governments to “fill those gaps.”
It was six years ago this month, the city and rural areas were flooded when the Kettle and Granby rivers spilled over their banks in a one-in-200-year flood event.
The flood resulted in evacuations and $38 million damage.
The entire Grand Forks flood mitigation project is $54 million and $39.8 million has been spent as of the end of April. The project is around three-quarters complete.
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyGrandForksNow News Alerts.
