The recent mention of the River Road water issue being before council and the fact that the Federal Gov't has given some money to address the flood problem, warrants careful consideration to be taken to address the problem properly.
The solutions talked about so far seem to be off in left field. The opposite should be said that the dike is a Bandaid by itself and dredging is by far the better option. In actuality dredging should come first and in concert with having a dike.
To properly understand the problem one has to think of the cause which is firstly a major problem because of the flows of water from release at Kemano washing gravel, silt and clay down the river and then coming to the confluence at the Fraser and both meeting in a relatively flat area. Decades of material movement has gathered at the confluence causing a large hump in the river bed.
Having worked all over the province for more thaner 40 years in the mobile excavating business and with my machine having to make water flow has taught me a lot in how and why to make this problem have a solution. It should be a federal, provincial, municipal and private participation involving some local small business entrepreneurs putting their collective minds together that have the expertise in planning and excavating the multiple types of product.
If done properly this could be done at little of no cost to the taxpayer and be totally green in nature of work. The tons of gravel, highest quality forest floor clay and silt would be able to be recovered on a continuous basis. One other great possibility of material could be gold. Of course one has to do this work respecting the fish windows and high water table. To say that it is not that simple is just a statement and if one put their energies towards how to make it happen as to not, it surely could be accomplished.
It is by no means the first time dredging has been done. It has been going on in the Fraser Valley and all over the world for decades. The added benefit of making the confluence deeper would make available the almost vacant land along River Road usable for tremendous industrial expansion having the rail right there and also good ground transportation. One must not forget as well it would provide a lot more comfort for the residential property owners and small hobby farmers residing in the area of the river.
Stan Wheeldon
Wheeldon Enterprises
Prince George
