No free ‘environmental’ pass for South Okanagan governments during flood, fire season

PENTICTON – Local governments take on a lot of responsibility when natural disasters threaten communities and action needs to be taken immediately.

There is a potential for those actions to hit taxpayers in the pocketbook if environmental damage is a consequence, so a decision to act isn't taken lightly.

The City of Penticton began flood mitigation efforts in Penticton and Ellis Creeks this week, with special approval from the province in accordance with proactive emergency preparedness.

Some of that work involved putting an excavator in the water to remove material prior to an anticipated strong spring freshet.

City engineer Ian Chapman says the city is expected to undertake such emergency works utilizing methods that present the least impact while still achieving the emergency objectives.

He says the excavator has all its hydraulic fluids changed to environmentally friendly products and the operator ensures it is clean before it goes into the creek. The city also ensures fish are collected each morning from the work area prior to start up, and a qualified environmental monitor remains on site during the operation.

Chapman says a report must be submitted to the Ministry of Environment within 72 hours of completion of the work. The city might also have to do further mitigative work if it’s deemed necessary for the health of the creek.

Cameron Baughen with emergency operations at the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen says it also takes full responsibility for any decision it makes with respect to emergency flood and fire mitigation work.

“A decision to proceed during a wildfire or flood emergency may not allow us time to obtain a permit, or authorization to do it," he says. "We recognize that when we do it, and we have a certain time limit to apply to the ministry, to explain what we did and why.”

Baughen says emergency work done last year is just now getting authorization from the ministry.

The regional district gets no exemption from environmental regulations and any decision to take on emergency work involves taking on the liability as well, he says. The liability is spread throughout the region's municipalities and rural areas, regardless of where the action took place.

When the regional district decides to take action, consideration is also given to making improvements to infrastructure at the same time.

“We try to leverage emergency funding to not only resolve the immediate issue, but create improved infrastructure moving forward,” Baughen says.

The culvert replacement currently going on in the Willowbrook area is a good example. In that community, street culverts that were too small to handle the high water flows this year were removed and are being replaced bigger ones.

Baughen says some discussion at tonight’s, April 25, public meeting in Oliver focussing on the current flooding in the Park Rill Creek watershed will involve the potential for the regional district to set up service areas in the future in order to allow communities to do mitigative work in advance of a flood or fire threat.

“We don’t have the authority to do things in advance. We need permission from local residents to spend money on their behalf,” he says.

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