Photo: Ty Lim/Merritt Herald

Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene announcing $60 million in provincial funding to dikes on March 25.

The City of Merritt is getting $60 million from the B.C. government to cover the reconstruction of two "critical” sections of dike along the Coldwater River — the latest big-ticket item on the city’s flood-protection bucket list.

"Standing here on the banks of the Coldwater River is a strong reminder the communities in B.C. are experiencing more frequent and more extreme climate-related disasters,” Kelly Greene, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, said Tuesday in Merritt.

"We’re seeing intense wildfire seasons, extreme heat events, atmospheric rivers and floods like was experienced here in Merritt and the Nicola Valley.”

Tuesday’s announcement comes more than three years after devastating floodwaters forced more than 7,000 Merritt residents to flee their homes. The Coldwater River water rose 2.5 times predicted high-water estimates in a matter of hours on Nov. 14, 2021, destroying flood warning systems, overcoming the city's dike infrastructure and flooding about 800 properties in low-lying areas.

The City of Merritt's flood mitigation team currently has 10 projects it is working on. Since the 2021 flood, 11 projects have been completed — chief among them the reconstruction of the Middlesboro Bridge.

'We need security'

The $60-million announced Tuesday will go toward rebuilding 2.9 kilometres out of a total of 4.9 kilometres of dike that was damaged by 2021’s high water.

Once the dikes are built, which is expected to take three to five years, approximately 80 per cent of the work on the flood mitigation plan will be completed.

The flood mitigation team has spent the last three-and-a-half years trying to get funding for their projects.

"This project represents a groundbreaking modern flood protection concept and establishes a new balance and a new healthier relationship between people and the river as humans,” said Sean Strang, flood mitigation team lead.

"We need security, we need to live somewhere, and we need housing to be something that we can afford. The river also needs room, and nature needs a space.”

Some will have to move

Residents in impacted areas will be contacted this spring with information regarding the process.

Plans call for a third-party acquisition team to contact those property owners later this year regarding the sale of their property.

Greene said the work the city has done on this project sets the expectation for municipal collaboration amongst different communities.

"They’ve done an excellent job in collaborating with First Nations here, with the provincial government, and advocating to the federal government,” she said.

"I think that really sets the standard of expectations for how to get projects done well and with the full buy-in of the region.”

More help is needed

Mayor Mike Goetz said he is grateful for Victoria’s help on the issue, but expressed frustration at the federal government's lack of support.

"We had a [federal] minister here promising that we would not be forgotten, we would not be left behind,” he said.

"So even though that minister has moved on, the other ministers in the spot will still have to carry that promise out, and I’ll make sure that that happens, because don’t come to communities and make promises unless you’re willing to see those promises come to fruition.”

There is still a 1.5-kilometre of dike that without funding for a rebuild. Goetz said he would like to see Ottawa pick up the cheque.

"The feds have been quite silent. So yes, I’m expecting, and I will be pushing for the last 30 per cent to be funded by the federal government to help out with the situation,” he said.

"I think it’s only proper that that happens.”