Late 60s early 70s the Department of Highways bought land off 3 north of the Hosmer bridge, wanting to use it for a snow dump in winter. Mid 70s they turned it into a gravel pit cutting out the protection berms and spers that was put there after the 1948 flood to help keep the river in line with the bridge. In the mid 80s the river cut through the gravel pit, and now we have what we have today. In 1990 I received a letter from the highway department stating that they have looked at the aerial maps before the gravel pit and after the gravel pit and had nothing to do with the river changing course, just natural erosion.
I asked environment to send me any information on what they have gathered over the years. They told me the only paper that they would give to me is if it had my name on it, the rest you go to the Freedom of Information.
Highways told me they only have one aerial map and you can’t see anything on it. I wonder where the maps are that they looked at in 1990 before and after the gravel pit?
I have talked to 11 different departments in government, e.g. Fisheries, about fish flopping around in my field. Can’t do anything, talk to Environment. Agricultural Commissioner – we don’t protect from flooding and erosion, we only protect it from people.
The river channels are so filled in, it has no place to go but flood the banks. The berm on the west side of the highway, the highway department had to put a lift on because it had over 10 feet of water and running over into homes and trailer courts. Department of Highways in Hosmer, at a flood meeting, proudly stood up and told us it wasn’t done for the people, it was done to save the highway at Caldwell Road.
Environment says put a section nine in to have a look at what corrections you want to do to help avoid the problem. First pay $130 for the permit (non-refundable) and then they tell you to hire an engineer and a hydrologist to have a study done on the proposed work you would like done. They don’t tell you it will cost anywhere between $20,000 to $30,000 to do that (goodbye to $130 for the permit).
With one of the biggest tax bases in B.C. all of the government departments cry poverty, no money.
It is very odd that after the ’48 flood the government at the time found money to help protect properties.
Out of all the departments I have talked to, the only one that sat down and had an in depth discussion and listened to what I had to say was Bill Bennett and I haven’t heard back from him yet.
Every year I believe we are going to flood because the river has no capacity to handle the high water. If the berm saturates and breaks, the homes, farms, businesses and trailer court will be history and to help the cause, there was a part of a berm left on the west of Hosmer bridge and Highways let them cut through that to put a boat launch in for the fishing guides.
We are not asking for a “Sea to Sky” Highway, only asking to put some protection in so we can keep what we worked so hard to build, for our families and retirement. So where do we go now? Call our MLA, it’s the only chance left.
Donald Caldwell
Hosmer