Coquitlam is off the hook for five more years while Victoria continues to keep control of the Deboville Slough dikes.
Last month, just as the municipal download deadline was nearing, the ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations told the city it would maintain the dikes until Dec. 31, 2020 (an order-in-council was passed Nov. 23, 2015, to stop the transfer).
For years, Coquitlam city council has called on the provincial government to not download the dikes until it had raised them to meet flood-level requirements.
The existing dike crest fails both the agricultural and provincial standard, thereby making the nearby farmlands prone to flooding during a Fraser River spring freshet. As well, the dike crest is too narrow and the bank too steep, and it has areas that are eroding.
Jozsef Dioszeghy, Coquitlam's general manager of engineering and public works, told The Tri-City News the provincial work still hasn't been done despite ongoing liability concerns; however, he expects the improvements will go ahead within the next five years — work would cost roughly $10 million.
Coquitlam is one of five B.C. jurisdictions where diking assets are still owned by the provincial government. And sections of the century-old Drainage, Ditch and Dike Act — or DDDA — under which the Coquitlam Diking District exists were set to be repealed on Dec. 31, 2015.
City staff say the asset transfer will add another $60,000 a year to the operations budget.
The Deboville Slough wetlands, at the base of Burke Mountain, are a popular destination for walkers, joggers, dog walkers, photographers and nature lovers.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
