Millions added to Grand Forks flood mitigation

An additional $7.5 million has been put towards flood mitigation projects in Grand Forks, bringing to $39.1 million the total investment in the community since the devastating floods of 2018.

The latest round of funding, delivered through the Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream of the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) administered by the Union of BC Municipalities, supported construction of a 714-metre dike and 505-metre drainage system in the southern portion of the city.

Previous funding from the CEPF helped Grand Forks remove a 1974 dike to restore an original floodplain while creating a 1.8-hectare off-river bypass channel to reduce flood risk and provide fish habitat.

The investments followed a 200-year flood of the Kettle and Granby rivers on May 10, 2018 that overwhelmed infrastructure built following the severe historic floods of 1948.

The disaster of 2018 as the result of high temperatures that led to rapid snowmelt followed by three days of rain – a scenario quite different from what local farmers face this year as a more variable climate makes extreme weather more devastating.

Fred Elsaesser of Advance Nurseries lost access to 50 of the 350 acres near the Kettle River where it grows hardy deciduous trees shipped across North America. The flood carved a new channel for the river through his land, burying trees in three feet of silt and washing the rest downstream to the US.

Rancher John Mehmal lost riverside fencing and had to rehabilitate fields damaged by the floods.

Compensation under the disaster financial assistance (DFA) program was slow to come, with many farmers seeing little if anything. A buyout program aimed at restoring the floodplain in 2020 focused on residential properties.

While farmers across the province have advocated for greater investments in diking infrastructure – something underway in Abbotsford, where the province announced funding for upgrades to the Barrowtown pump station earlier this year – many farmers have been underwhelmed by the eligibility criteria and payouts through the disaster financial assistance program.

With files from Tom Walker

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Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.

SEPTEMBER 2026
Vol. 112 Issue 9

Millions added to Grand Forks flood mitigation

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