The District of Houston is finally getting provincial assistance for its long-standing desire to ease seasonal flooding along the Silverthorne Creek drainage area.
Unsuccessful for several years in applying for various grants, the District this year is to receive $150,000 for mapping and assessments that will eventually lead to work being done.
It had originally asked for $2 million to which it would have added $500,000 of its own money for a complete project right from planning to the work involved.
But the $150,000 now coming the District’s way will enable it to at least plan and chart out the project.
“We are excited to continue to move these efforts forward,” said Houston mayor Shane Brienen.
“Mitigating flood risks associated with the Silverthorne Creek drainage has been a council priority for many years and this grant will allow us to move the project to be shovel ready.”
The District began fleshing out a project to deal with flooding events arising from a report it commissioned in 2018.
The report indicated spring flooding events have been increasing since 1997 because two existing systems to drain waters can’t handle the flows from snowmelt.
Culverts were blocked and ditches compromised, the study said of problems impeding proper drainage.
The study noted that two flooding events in 2017 and in 2018 resulted in flooding of Finning Canada’s property, flooding of Monster Industries property, water flowing over CN tracks, and flooding of the Morice River Forest Service Road.
Specifically, the study outlined what it called “probable seasonal inundation of septic systems at the Silverthorne Trailer Park, home to approximately 25 residential manufactured homes.”
“There have been no reported problems, however the regulatory requirements for these septic systems to lie above the 25-year flood event is almost certainly not being met,” the study noted.
It said there’s a potential for contamination of local wells, including those at the trailer park.
One option sketched out for council to pursue would involve running drainage pipes under both the CN Rail line and the second crossing of a CN Rail spur line and the Morice River Road.
Construction of a berm at Monster Industries would also be an option as would work to connect Oxbow Lake to a reclaimed gravel pit with an outlet control installation at the northwest outlet to the gravel pit and construction of upgraded channel between this location and the Morice River Road.