By Grant Granger

The Tri-City News

Port Coquitlam will pay BC Hydro to keep the water level low enough at the Coquitlam Lake Reservoir during winter to prevent flooding of the Coquitlam River.

But city councillors are dam mad they have to do it.

At a council meeting held Tuesday at Kwayhquitlum middle school, councillors voted to sign the Coquitlam Reservoir Flood Buffer Agreement with Hydro and the city of Coquitlam. The two cities will split the estimated $67,000 in lost energy revenue Hydro could generate if the reservoir was full.

“What bugs me the most is the downloading of responsibility of a Crown corporation to another form of government,” said Coun. Mike Forrest. “It’s just incredulous. We shouldn’t have to have done this.”

In 2004, BC Hydro submitted the Coquitlam-Buntzen Water Use Plan to the provincial Ministry of Environment for approval, which was given in April 2005. A month later, both of the cities filed appeals to the Environmental Appeal Board. The plan’s failure to consider the downstream flood implications and increased flood risk upset the cities, especially since they would be on the hook for the huge costs of dealing with a flood.

The board held a hearing in October 2007 but didn’t set aside enough time for the complex case and decided to adjourn until no later than 2009 if a mutual resolution couldn’t be reached. In January 2008, meetings to look at options began with the three parties as well as the Kwikwetlem First Nation, the environment ministry, Metro Vancouver and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Although the river has a diking system, it doesn’t meet the provincial standard for a one-in-200-year flood due to sediment build-up in the river. To upgrade it would cost big bucks, so PoCo determined it would be better off paying Hydro to lower the level of the reservoir to reduce the danger of a major flood.

“This [agreement] might not sound exciting or sexy but it has significant impacts for this community,” said Coun. Darrell Penner, chair of the city’s transportation and operations committee. “It’s a lot cheaper than building higher dikes. That would cost tens of millions of dollars. At the end of the day, this did save us millions and millions of dollars.”

Still, the flood risk is not totally eliminated by the agreement, which states Hydro will not be liable for the consequences of flooding on the river floodplain unless it’s the result of gross negligence, recklessness or wilful misconduct.

As part of the agreement, PoCo will withdraw its appeal to the EAB.

ggranger@tricitynews.com