Crews in water-logged Metro Vancouver prepare for next drenching

With another drenching of rain possible in parts of British Columbia, crews are working fast to clean up last week’s mudslides – to ensure the next drenching doesn’t impact the infrastructure that supplies water to homes and businesses in Metro Vancouver.

Earlier this week, a mudslide blocked Pipeline Road near Coquitlam, limiting access to the region’s water treatment plant.

“This road’s very important for access to our facility as well as residents that live in the area,” said Brant Arnold-Smith with Metro Vancouver emergency management.

Arnold-Smith said crews are working with those from the City of Coquitlam to provide technical expertise as debris from the mudslide is removed, as another rainstorm is expected on Tuesday.

He said with rocks, mud and wood debris still needing to be removed, they want to ensure water infrastructure, such as pipes from the plant, aren’t accidentally damaged.

“We have a number of water transmission pipes under Pipeline Road that provide drinking water to the region,” Arnold-Smith said. “Public safety is paramount and ensuring that our water infrastructure here is not damaged as debris removal continues is our top priority.”

He said the pipes provide about one-quarter of region’s drinking water.

The work comes the same day the River Forecast Centre announced it had ended its high streamflow advisories for several regions, including Metro Vancouver, the North Shore Mountains, the Fraser Valley and the Sunshine Coast.

That lifting followed about a week of heavy rain as an atmospheric river settled over the region.

Advisories have also been dropped for the Coldwater, Similkameen and Skagit rivers.

With the lifting of the advisories, so too comes the ending of evacuation alerts for some communities including near the Chilliwack River. The alert for dozens of properties ended on Saturday, though a local state of emergency remains.

“The weather is clear a little bit, but there’s still a bit of a risk,” said Patricia Ross, regional district chair of the Fraser Valley. “We are asking people to stay away from the waterways. There’s a lot of debris coming down the river.”

According to B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, rivers continue to recede from elevated rainfall and snowmelt over the past week.

The ministry said in a notice that ended the advisory for the South Coast that flows in some larger and lake-fed river systems remain elevated, but are expected to ease through the start of the week.

It still urges caution though: “While current high flow hazards have subsided, some precipitation mid-week may cause minor, temporary increases in flows within smaller, responsive streams.”

Ross said crews in the Fraser Valley were out reinforcing vulnerable spots along the river in an effort to help prevent some damage.

“I hardly slept last night because I was worried about what would happen, but so far, the significant works that we’ve put in place along the Chilliwack River Valley, and the Electoral Area E, they count,” she said.

While the advisory has been lifted, the aftermath remains.

In Cultus Lake, a landslide south of the Sunnyside Campground cut off part of the main route, reducing it to a single lane on Saturday. Crews are working to make repairs, but said it is expected to take several days.

Roads near Hope, B.C., were also impacted, with multiple potholes forming along Highway 1 east of Chilliwack, between Bridal Falls and Hope.

Officials caution residents that despite the lifting of the advisory, water in some rivers, like the Chilliwack River, is still moving quickly.

—with files from Global News’ Taya Fast and Pat Bell

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