The Sumas River Watershed Flood Mitigation Planning Initiative is ready to hear what the public thinks of its new plan and will be collecting feedback at several upcoming open houses in Abbotsford. This partnership between Sumas First Nation, Leq’á:mel First Nation, the City of Abbotsford, the City of Chilliwack, and the provincial government was formed to tackle the issue of flooding in the Sumas Prairie, which is a problem that has cost the region millions of dollars in damages in just the past decade alone.
Since initially forming in 2023, this group has crafted a flood mitigation plan that it has since unveiled to the public. Now, the group wants to know what the public thinks about this draft plan, and Abbotsford is hosting a series of open houses to collect feedback. The first of these events is on Wednesday (June 17) at the Semá:th Community Centre. An agriculture-focused information session will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., with an open house to follow from 4 to 7 p.m.
The next chance to share feedback is on June 20 at the Clarion Hotel from noon to 4 p.m. The Clarion Hotel will also host the final open house on June 23 from 5 to 8 p.m. Anyone not able to attend one of these sessions can also share their opinion of the new plan by taking the online survey at letstalkabbotsford.ca. This flood mitigation plan includes projections for what a once-in-200-year flood would look like, with the 2021 floods being a once-in-100-year flood. According
to the estimations, as much as five metres of water could affect the lowest-lying areas of the Sumas Prairie and would likely remain for up to two and a half months. The plan also includes a detailed list of actions that could be taken to reduce the impact of future floods. The information collected at these upcoming open houses will be used to revise this draft strategy before moving on to the next stage in the plan development.
Abbotsford, Sumas River, flood mitigation plan, Sumas Prairie, Sumas First Nation, Leq’á:mel First Nation, open houses, flood risk, letstalkabbotsford.ca
So is this like… another meeting about flooding nobody listens to?
5 metres?? That sounds like Armageddon for people down there. I can’t believe it’ll just sit for 2 and a half months either. Hope they do something besides “input.”
Once-in-200-year but they said 2021 was once-in-100-year, so like… are they saying it happens more often now? Or is it just whoever wrote the plan guessing based on vibes. Also where’s the part about stopping the rain lol.
I saw the Semá:th Community Centre thing and thought it was for traffic or something. If they’re gonna make a list of actions, why not just say what they are already? People in Abbotsford always get flooded and then it’s “let us know” every time.