Abbotsford, B.C., homes may need to be destroyed to construct dike, mayor says

Vancouver -

The City of Abbotsford says several homes may need to be destroyed to shore up a levee and prevent the Sumas Prairie from turning into a lake once again.

Mayor Henry Braun confirmed the troubling development at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

According to Braun, the dike that protects the prairie has been breached, and a levee must be built as soon as possible.

The largest hole in the dike is approximately 100 metres long. The city plans to use help from the Canadian Forces to build a two-and-a-half-kilometre dike alongside Highway 1 starting Friday morning.

Braun was unable to say exactly how many properties would need to be expropriated to facilitate the emergency construction.

"I think it's between six and 12," Braun said in response to a reporter's question.

"I sense you're looking for a number, so I don't want someone to think it's 50 houses," he added. "One house is too much. And if it was my house, I'd be concerned, too. But there are not many options here."

Sumas Prairie is a 90-square-kilometre low-lying agricultural area in Abbotsford's southeast, and about two-thirds of it is the former Sumas Lake, Braun said.

Currently, the Sumas River flows north from the U.S. border toward the Fraser River, and dikes along its banks prevent it from refilling and reforming the Sumas Lake. The breaches in those dikes are allowing the lake to reform faster than the city's Barrowtown pump station can remove the water, according to Braun.

The plan is to construct the levee along the highway's north side, between two high points, the mayor said. That and repairs to another breach in the dike will hopefully stop water from getting into the former lake and allow the pump station to remove the water that remains.

"We have to finish this work, like, yesterday, to stop all of this happening," Braun said.

The mayor said some people in the western part of the Sumas Prairie have been seeing the water recede. That's largely because the water is flowing west to east, toward the lake bed. Water continues to rise on the east side of Abbotsford, Braun said.

"I just want to implore the farmers: Just because you saw water drop, doesn't mean it's safe to go in there," he said.