VANCOUVER - B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says 87 flood-mitigation projects are on track to be completed as the province anticipates heavy run-off from near-record snowpacks throughout the region.
Last month, the province committed $33 million for flood-mitigation work and the premier says the money for shoring up dikes and waterways has now been completely allocated.
By April 1, the last date for an official measure of the snow pack around the province, levels in some areas were as much as 160 per cent above normal.
Markus Schnorbus, a hydrologic modelling scientist with the Ministry of the Environment, said last week that this accumulation suggests there is an above-average potential for flooding.
In some areas, crews have been toiling around the clock on anti-flooding measures. The provincial dollars came with the proviso they be spent on critical flood protection projects and be completed by mid-May.
Public Safety Minister John Les has said planning for this spring's potential flooding began in January.
Work being done ranges from repairing sinkholes, to replacing culverts and adding tonnes of rip-rap rock to strengthen stream banks.
People are also being reminded to be prepared to look after themselves for 72 hours if necessary in the event of a disaster.
Campbell says the province has requested the federal government cover 50 per cent of the $33 million the province has allocated for the mitigation work.
''I still believe the federal government will partner with us on protecting B.C. communities,'' he said in a press release.
And that, Campbell says, could be a good deal for the federal government which would have to pay up to 90 per cent of disaster assistance costs should the worst-case scenario arise.
In early March, B.C.'s Ministry of the Environment said the potential for flooding remains high along the province's coast and in the Skeena, Bulkley and Nechako basins of northern B.C. as record snowpacks begin to melt.
The ministry also said the Fraser River holds a high potential for flooding as snowpacks on the south, mid and north coast, Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser River are 135 to 145 per cent of normal.
That led to calls for government action along the lower Fraser, which runs through portions of the Lower Mainland.
The ministry is also forecasting well-above-normal spring runoff in the Thompson and Peace river basins.
Because of a "robust'' start to winter _ with heavy snowfalls from October through mid-January -- officials say most river basins in B.C. had accumulated above-normal or well-above-normal snowpacks, as of March 1.
Areas such as the Okanagan and Kootenays have near-normal snowpacks, but there are no areas of B.C. with below-normal snowpacks, the ministry said.
It said whether flooding occurs depends on a number of factors, including the amount of additional snow that falls during the remainder of the winter, and weather conditions during snowmelt in May and June.
Vancouver Island and other coastal drainages, such as the Chilliwack River, Alouette River and Squamish River, are excluded from spring flooding concerns.
Those drainages normally experience their high flows during fall and winter rain storms, not from spring snowmelt.
North-central B.C., and the Nechako, upper Fraser, Peace and Skeena rivers are all in the 130 to 150 per cent of normal range.
Much of the rest of the Interior -- including the Middle Fraser, Quesnel Highlands, Similkameen, Columbia, Nicola/Coldwater and lower Fraser regions -- has well-above-normal snowpacks in the 110 to 130 per cent of normal range.
The North Thompson and South Thompson are 114 per cent and 110 per cent, respectively.
The Fraser River watershed snow index is 125 per cent of normal. This is the fifth or sixth largest Fraser River snowpack measured since 1953, when detailed snow measurements in the Fraser began.
The ministry said the greatest risk for flooding results from above-normal snowpacks combined with well-above-normal temperatures and/or heavy rainfall during snowmelt in May and June.
Areas of concern should this combination be met are:
- All of the Fraser River and its tributaries, from its headwater areas above Prince George to the Lower Mainland.
- The Thompson River and tributaries.
- Rivers within the Peace and Nechako basins.
- The Skeena and Bulkley rivers and their tributaries.
