Stabilizing the banks of Baker Creek in Quesnel will take some long term planning

Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson says staff are now working with the province on getting the geotechnical and hydrological assessments that are needed to move forward…

“That bank has shifted significantly, there is kind of a more natural trail from the walking bridge on Baker Creek up towards Sugarloaf Park, large segments of that bank have now gone, as well as an undercut near the Sikh Temple on the Riverfront Trail side, there was some back cutting around Anderson Bridge.”

Simpson says the evacuation order for the one home along the creek remains in place…

“I stood at that location just after we put the emergency order on, and quite frankly I didn’t think we were going to need to evacuate that home. The amount of bank that was remaining seemed significant to me. That was about two o’clock in the afternoon, by about 8 o’clock that night that bank had eroded so significantly that we evacuated the homeowner.”

Simpson says because the city doesn’t have the expertise on staff, they are trying to work with Emergency Management BC and the provincial emergency program, to get a geotech analysis on the bank prior to letting the homeowner actually go and reside back in the house.”

He says they hope to get an update on that shortly.

Simpson says city crews and contractors did an amazing job over the weekend…

“That creek kept changing its course, depending on what kind of debris, and especially from the big trees that it was bringing down, that it would get hung up and force the water in behind to take different routes. Our crews had to continually respond to that changing situation, while restoring a water main, while making sure that the sewer pipe was blocked at both ends, getting involved with hydro, getting involved with the gas lines, it was a phenomenal job they did as that creek continued to rise.”

Simpson says the local state of emergency will likely remain in place until Friday as crews still have some more work to do.