The City of Delta is hoping to land funding for important irrigation and drainage projects to help the farming community deal with climate change.
A grant application will be submitted to the UBCM Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation fund for the Mason Pump Station upgrade, while a grant application will be submitted to the Investment Agriculture Foundation’s (IAF) Agricultural Water Infrastructure Program for the design and construction of a second Fraser River irrigation intake and associated downstream conveyance improvements.
Council, at its Oct. 7th meeting, agreed to have staff proceed with those applications.
A staff report notes the Mason Pump Station, located at 3393 River Road West, is near the end of its service life.
The pump station is Delta’s largest drainage pump station in the west Ladner area and is critical to prevent flooding of low-lying agricultural land.
The upgraded station would also provide Delta the ability to convey irrigation water across the Fraser River to Westham Island in the future, the report notes.
Meanwhile, the past two irrigation seasons were challenging due to drought and low Fraser River flows in late summer as the water quality at the existing irrigation water intake at 80th Street became too saline for most crops.
The report notes that a second irrigation intake further upstream, that would have much less salinity. is required to supplement the water supply and deal with ongoing climate change. A second intake is proposed to be situated close to River Road and 96th Street at the existing Gravel Ridge Pump Station.
Delta staff recently tested the feasibility of a second irrigation intake at that pump station and results confirm that it is feasible to intake water at high tide by gravity using the existing flood box, the report adds, noting the volume of water available during the high tide window can serve to supplement the water supply.
The total project cost to upgrade the Mason Pump Station is estimated to be $5.5 million. Delta would contribute a total of $500,000 should the grant application be successful.
The second irrigation intake and conveyance upgrades are estimated to cost approximately $3.7 million. Delta would be required to contribute 50 per cent of the cost should that grant application be successful.
