Environmental Protection in Flood Management

Fish passage improved! The Duncan-Bateson pump station at Harrison Mills, installed by the District of Kent
in 2009, replaces an old station and offers safer passage for Chinook and Coho salmon between the Duncan Slough
and the Harrison River. This configuration uses a small submersible-centrifugal hydraulic fish pump and a fish screen,
installed on a hinged frame. Fish fry are drawn through the low speed impeller and are gently pumped through the
dike, and ultimately released into a basin adjacent to the Harrison River.

There are 1,000 km of dikes, pumps and floodgates in communities across BC designed to protect homes, businesses and utilities from the risk of flood. But development in the floodplain, coupled with such flood protection measures, such as dikes and drainage, come at a cost. They often result in loss or degradation of aquatic habitat and disruption of fish passage. Are there better options?

A 2010 report from the Fraser Basin Council, Environmental Protection in Flood Hazard Management: A Guide for Practitioners, explores options in flood hazard management, with an eye to better environmental protection. Local authorities, regulatory agencies and water stewards will find in the Guide a useful synopsis of modern flood protection options, including local innovations.

With many BC communities ready to replace or upgrade flood protection works, the Guide offers a timely look at some of the best management practices to protect communities and the environment. The Fraser Basin Council hosted an educational workshop in 2009 and published the report in 2010, with funding from the Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program.

Read the report to see what is possible through environmental assessments and monitoring, land use planning for floodplain areas, set-back dikes, fish-friendly pumps and floodgates, sediment ponds and habitat restoration.