The 2021 Fraser Valley flood event inundated southern parts of British Columbia and parts of the neighboring Washington state in the United States. The event was caused by an atmospheric river bringing heavy sustained rainfall to parts of southern British Columbia and northwestern United States. The event quickly became a natural disaster, triggering a state of emergency for the province of British Columbia.
Emergency operations teams were mobilised to protect human life and livestock, cut off from the flood.
A major issue for southern British Columbia was extreme and immediate impact from the event on the transportation corridor linking the coastal city of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port, to the Fraser Valley, the rest of British Columbia and the rest of Canada.
The Fraser Valley, a region responsible for agricultural production in the province, was severely impacted, resulting in the regions inability to feed livestock in the absence of rail service. During the event, dikes, dams, and water barriers failed, causing widespread destruction and devastation to properties and businesses. The Fraser River shoreline and river inlets, along with vegetation, were significantly eroded from large woody debris and rock materials carried by powerful flood waters upstream. Local communities and Municipalities with support from Government, procured the technical services of hydrotechnical and river flood management professionals, to assess, engineer-design, build and install large rip-rap along the eroded sections of the river.
BLP members have worked extensively in the region on various water and wastewater projects, including with First Nation communities, as well as providing strategic and technical support in the areas of flood resiliency planning, flood risk assessment and flood protection and defenses.
The new Fraser Riverbank erosion protection will increase the stability of adjacent diking, located roughly within 15 metres of the eroding riverbank. By stabilizing the bank, the diking provides a stronger level of protection to the community
