The work is done at the mouth of Two Mile Creek, but whether or not the district will be on the hook for maintenance and monitoring remains to be seen.
On Aug. 3, representatives of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure hosted a public meeting in District of Sicamous council chambers, during which they proposed a fix for Two Mile Creek. What the ministry wanted to do, as explained by MOTI district manager Murray Tekano, was armour the sides of the creek up 1.8 metres from the bed with large angular rock. This armouring would run from the creek mouth up to the highway bridge.
“The benefit of this channel – over just leaving it the way it is – is that the channel is armoured, riprap armours the channel, it reduces the likelihood the river is going to move itself out…,” said Tekano. “If it’s not done, there are areas which, unfortunately in the future, flow events are going to erode.”
Tekano emphasized the fix would go further to help remedy damage from future flooding events, such as the June 23 debris flow that saw the creek shift and devastate a large part of the Two Mile area. He also explained the $250,000 project would be completed only if the district agreed to take responsibility for monitoring and maintenance of the armoured portion.
To date, the district has not signed any agreement with MOTI, which proceeded to complete the works anyway.
“Work to repair the highway following the flooding event has essentially wrapped up, and the highway has been restored,” MOTI spokesperson Kate Trotter explained in a Dec. 3 email. “Work to armour the Sicamous Creek channel downstream below the highway bridge was completed in September. The costs for these works have been borne by the province.
“A maintenance agreement for the downstream works on Sicamous Creek has been proposed, and is with the municipality for review.”
District administrator Heidi Frank says she cannot comment on the matter as it is in camera.
“All I can tell you is that the proposed agreement has been forwarded to legal for review,” Frank explained in a Dec. 6 email.
MOTI’s proposed fix had several critics at the Aug. hearing, one being Sicamous Mayor Darrell Trouton, who warned of potential liability concerns, and called the proposal a “Band-Aid solution.”
“Why would the district ever want to get involved in this at this point in time?” asked Trouton.