a few rivers run through it – flood control in pemberton

With Brenda McLeod

1915 Flood

1968 Flood

2016 Flood

Upper Lillooet River

Miller Farm

Committee was formed after the 1940 Flood

Original Committee Members included: Bob Taylor, Joe Taillefer and Harold Wyatt-Purden

Bob Taylor and Ernest Cooper 1940 Joe Taillefer 1957 Harold Wyatt-Purden

Main purposes was to prepare a brief to the Post-War Rehabilitation Council.

Brief called for the dyking and straightening of Lillooet R., Ryan and Miller Creeks and the lowering of Lillooet Lake.

What was the Act for? Was approved on April 17th 1935 after 8 years of falling grain prices,

unrelenting drought, severe wind erosion and resulting wide scale abandonment of farms in the driest southern areas of the prairies.

How did it help Pemberton? In 1937 the PFRA Act was amended to add land utilization and land

settlement. Projects could include irrigation or de-watering.

The Federal government agreed to carry out the reclamation project.

What were some of the major physical changes?

Lillooet R. cuts

The dykes

The canals and ditches

The lowering of the lake

Original river path prior to PFRA

River bank protection -C. Girling photo

The Dyking District was formed in 1947 from the Drainage and Reclamation Committee and Bob Taylor and H Wyatt-Purden were some of the first trustees.

What was the purpose? Under the Tri-Partite Agreement signed in 1948 the Federal government did construction, province provided ROW’s and access roads and the committee accepted responsibility for general maintenance to be funded through taxation.

What were some of the early issues?

The flood events of 1948-49 created concern as the project wasn’t entirely completed and there were weak points in the system.

What were some of the early successes?

Over the first decade the water level of the Lillooet R. gradually dropped and some farmer’s had to start irrigating – drying out became more of a problem than flooding.

A rush of new settlers arrived to settle the reclaimed farm lands.

Fraser River flood of 1948

2006 2016

2010

The most significant events result from heavy rains and freezing levels well above the mountain peaks. The October 8, 1984 and October 18, 2003 floods were examples of rain on snow events. The instantaneous peak flows on the Lillooet River were recorded at 1310 cum/s and 1490 cum/s respectively

PVDD is Celebrating 70 years! 1947-2017

Upper Lillooet River