Abbotsford – On Wednesday February 14, Premier David Eby; Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness; Pam Alexis, MLA for Abbotsford-Mission and Minister of Agriculture and Food; Troy Ganzeveld, Councillor from Sumas First Nation; Ross Siemens, Mayor of Abbotsford, made an announcement about making the Sumas Prairie more resilient to flooding.
The announcement was at the Barrowtown Pump Station at 40198 Quadling Road.
To help protect people, communities and farmland in the Fraser Valley’s Sumas Prairie from future flood events, the Barrowtown pump station in Abbotsford will receive significant flood-resilience upgrades.
FYI:
Upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station will increase its capacity and resilience to flooding.
The improvements include:
- adding a six-metre floodwall to reduce the possibility of the station shutting down if the
Sumas Prairie is flooded; - upgrading the debris screen, or trash rack, to reduce fish access to the pumps and
prevent large debris from entering the system intake; - replacing pump motors to improve station efficiency and operating flexibility, as well as
increasing its overall pumping capacity; - transitioning to a dual substation with the addition of a second BC Hydro power feed, to
make the pump station’s power supply more robust; and - replacing sandbags with concrete blocks on North Parallel Road.
The Barrowtown pump station is a critical piece of infrastructure to the Sumas Prairie’s flood protection system. Originally opened in 1983, the pump station was built to pump water out of the low-lying prairie lands via the Sumas Canal and into the Fraser River but was nearly overwhelmed when flood waters breached the Sumas River dike during the atmospheric rivers of November 2021.
The Province has been working closely with the City of Abbotsford throughout its recovery process, including helping to fund the design and preliminary work in spring 2023 needed for these improvements. The Province is now committing $76.6 million to support these critical upgrades to the pump station. With this latest investment, the Province has provided nearly $180 million to support Abbotsford’s recovery from the 2021 atmospheric river events to help protect people and communities for years to come.
Any flood mitigation approaches and designs are being developed in a collaborative forum with the Semá:th, Leq’á:mel, and Matsqui First Nations.
Pam Alexis, Minister of Agriculture and Food and MLA for Abbotsford-Mission – “It is wonderful to see this commitment to making improvements to the Barrowtown Pump Station. We have worked alongside the community since the moment the pumps were in trouble and this work will go a long way in keeping people and farmland safe. I am grateful that we were able to work collaboratively on solutions with so many important voices at the table.”
Ken Popove, mayor of Chilliwack – “Abbotsford’s Barrowtown Pump Station is a critical piece of flood protection infrastructure for each of our communities. The City of Chilliwack is grateful to be part of the Sumas River Flood Mitigation Collaborative Framework with partners who share our goal, and we are pleased the Province recognizes the importance of this investment as we continue to work toward a safer future for our region.”
