Chilliwack – The irony of sediment removal has been the drought that we experienced between August and Thanksgiving (and a dry spell in November).
In early September, approximately 35,000 cubic metres of sediment was removed from the Vedder River as part of the City of Chilliwack’s regular flood mitigation program.
From the City website:
2022 Vedder River Sediment Removal
The Vedder River Management Area Committee (VRMAC) plans and designs sediment removals from the Vedder River and Canal to maintain floodway capacity. Left unmanaged, the naturally depositing sediment would result in increased flood water levels and reduce the effectiveness of the dike system.
The atmospheric river event in November 2021 resulted in over 440,000 cubic metres of sediment to be deposited in the Vedder River and Vedder Canal. This is extraordinary in that the long-term sediment deposit rate has been declining in the past decade to under 40,000 cubic metres per year.
VRMAC identified a total of eleven sites for sediment removal in 2022, including five City of Chilliwack sites.
Although 151,000 cubic metres of sediment at eleven sites has been identified, only 110,000 cubic metres will be removed which represents the long-term average deposit rate and the amount prescribed in our agency applications.
Council at the regular meeting of July 19, 2022 awarded the tender for the “2022 Vedder River Floodway Sediment Removal” to Jakes Construction Ltd. to remove up to 110,000 cubic metres of sediment from the Vedder River and Canal at unit prices as provided in their tender submittal in the amount of up to $500,000 (plus applicable taxes).
The City did not receive provincial (Water Sustainability Act) approval until Aug 29, 2022 and therefore not able to begin sediment removals until Aug 31, 2022. Between Aug 31 and September 13, 2022 approximately 35,000 cubic metres of sediment was removed from five (5) locations (Railway, Greendale, Salad, Powerline and Boundary bars). Environmental design, monitoring and post removal assessment is being completed by a qualified environmental professional.
