Court halts Rolla Creek Dyke deconstruction

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — A group of four residents are taking the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) to court for decommissioning Rolla Creek Dyke.

Richard Pavlis, Ferrol Pavlis, Timothy Pavlis and Victor Mattson submitted an application to the Supreme Court of B.C. on February 13th to stop the deconstruction of the Rolla Creek Dyke.

In the application, Leslie J. Mackoff, the applicant’s lawyer, detailed why the deconstruction should be stopped because the lands surrounding the dyke will flood in times of heavy rain. 

The Peace River Regional District was ordered by the Supreme Court of B.C. to stop the decommissioning work until further order of the court on February 14th.

The Supreme Court of B.C. also ordered that if the PRRD has started decommissioning the Rolla Creek Dyke, they are granted leave to take steps to ensure it is left in safe condition.

The order included a requirement for the applicants to file a civil claim within 30 days of the order.

According to the application, the PRRD has owned and been responsible for maintaining the Rolla Creek Dyke since the 1980s.

The applicants own a total of five parcels of land next to the Rolla Creek Dyke, which was constructed in 1989 to prevent flooding and protect nearby infrastructure.

The application says if the owners’ lands flood, their businesses will suffer.

The plots of land were designated Property 1, Property 5, Property 6, Property 7 and Property 9.

The application states that in the 1970s and 1980s, in times of heavy rain and during freshet, the Rolla Creek would overflow its banks onto the northern portion of Property 1 before going southeast and crossing through Property 5. It then travelled eastbound across Property 7.

Before the dyke was constructed, the flooding caused large holes in Property 1 and stripped the land’s topsoil, making it more challenging to farm.

According to the application, the flooding was frequent enough that the water flowed across Property 5, which caused long ditches to form, dividing the land into three separate parcels.

This made the lands difficult to farm as a single piece because the farm machinery could not cross the ditches.

Once the Rolla Creek Dyke was completed, Property 5’s owner was able to fill in the ditches and farm the land as one again.

The application says the Rolla Creek Dyke protected the property and neighbouring lands during heavy rains over the years.

If the dyke is removed, heavy rain or freshet runoff will likely begin the process of creating ditches in the land again.

In addition, the application states that farm machinery has gotten larger and heavier, making it even more challenging to move the equipment.

Property 6 also experienced flooding before the dam was built, resulting in ditches forming there.

The application says considerable work and materials were required to repair the ditches after the dyke was constructed.

The PRRD told Energeticcity.ca that the matter is before the Supreme Court of B.C., so it cannot comment at this time.

At the time of writing, further action has yet to be taken by either party since February 14th, according to Court Services Online.

A group of PRRD residents have created a website called Fight the PRRD, which urges citizens to demand transparency and fairness from the district and the Agricultural Land Commission.

Two of the applicants for the deconstruction of the Rolla Dyke are also featured on the website in testimony videos.