It’s yet another letter reiterating Delta’s long-outstanding request for a sustained dredging program for the lower Fraser River secondary channels.
Council last week voted in favour of a staff recommendation to send a letter, signed by Mayor George Harvie, and requesting to be co-signed by Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Laura Cassidy and Musqueam Indian Band Chief Wayne Sparrow, to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, as well as the Minister of Transportation.
A staff report notes that, despite previous one-time funding that allowed for some spot dredging, the Fraser River’s natural sedimentation processes continue to affect the channels, leaving them close to pre-2013 sediment levels.
Although one-time dredging funding was announced by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in 2021, with the work wrapping up earlier this year, all sustained funding has since been exhausted.
A port authority Situation Report, released in February 2023, estimated that $2.5 million annually is required to implement a sustainable dredging program.
“This report underscores the need for the Local Channel Dredging Collaborative to reconvene and work towards a long-term solution and consistent funding,” the report notes.
In July 2023, more than 150 frustrated Delta float homeowners and business owners made their anger known on the ongoing dredging issue at a packed town hall meeting at Fisherman’s Hall in Ladner.
The message most of the speakers and many in the audience conveyed was that they don’t want to hear their political representatives describing how much they have been advocating, but wanted to see results.
Acknowledging the efforts of the Ladner Sediment Group, Delta MP Carla Qualtrough said the issue has been “the biggest jurisdictional passing of the buck” she’s ever experienced since she was elected, suggesting residents form a new advocacy group.
She still hasn’t been able to secure a funding commitment.
A new group has recently formed, South Fraser River Enhancement Society, previously known as the Ladner Sediment group. Bringing together various stakeholders, the group’s mandate is to restore and maintain the secondary channels of the Fraser River while ensuring a sustainable coexistence between the river’s ecosystem and people.
Also becoming a registered society, the group recently requested the City of Delta establish a waterway maintenance committee with local stakeholders including First Nations.
