The Water Stewardship Branch and a geotechnical engineer conducted another site visit to assess work completed to date on Fairmont Creek last week, reported the Regional District of East Kootenay.

“Our work is now focusing on two areas: a 50-meter portion of the creek below the pond where we have been doing further dredging to deepen the channel; and, removal of some of the gravel debris from the sides of the channel, that was placed by contractor, in the pond area,” reported RDEK communications manager Loree Duczek August 3.

“This work was started within hours of the debris flow on July 15, as soon as the area was deemed safe.  We were directed by the ministry to work from the bottom to the top and our focus has been on re-establishing the creek channel and keeping the creek flowing within that channel.  That work on the stream channel is now largely complete and we will be continuing to monitor it as the pools come back on line over the weekend,” Duczek said, adding, “The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has completed the cleaning of the main roads and side streets.”

Further geotechnical work is required.

“One of the other recommendations from the Water Stewardship Branch was to have a geotechnical assessment completed on the creek. We will be meeting next week to coordinate that effort.  The assessment will determine what happened, identify whether there is a risk of another occurrence and if so, the likely frequency. It will also determine the amount of debris that came down, and identify options for potential future mitigative work.  Once we receive that report, we will be able to determine future plans,” Duczek explained.

“We continue to await word from the province regarding whether the Fairmont debris flow event will be approved for Disaster Financial Assistance and are hoping to hear within the next few weeks.”

e-KNOW

Article Share