Dawson Creek considers ‘over-land piping’ from Peace River to alleviate water crisis

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Dawson Creek’s mayor says his team is working alongside the province on a contingency plan to pipe water over land in case its current water supply reaches unsafe levels.

Mayor Darcy Dober appeared on the October 31st episode of This Week in the Peace to discuss the city’s ongoing water crisis, which escalated earlier this month with the declaration of a state of local emergency.

According to Dober, representatives from the city are now coordinating alongside the provincial government to figure out a way to refill its reservoirs in the short term in case they run out. As of October 28th, the city has roughly 180 days’ worth of water stored.

“If it gets to a point where we need to replenish our reservoirs, [we’re working on] an over-land pumping system from the Peace River,” Dober explained. “The province is working very closely with us on that.”

Dober said part of the reason the city declared a state of local emergency is to get help fast-tracking that overland pumping system from the province.

“The reality is that we have 180 days-ish of water, but you can’t run that dry, right? If you run those reservoirs dry, you risk them freezing up, so it’s not like you can run them down to 20 days and then start pumping water.”

Currently, Dober says it’s unclear whether the over-land pumping system will be needed, but the city and province are working on it proactively to avoid a worst-case scenario.

“Most emergencies, when they happen, it’s an emergency and you need help instantly. Ours is a little unique because it is an emergency, but not today, we just know it’s coming, so it’s a different element to an emergency because you have time to think about things and plan for them.”

The Peace River is also being eyed by Dawson Creek as a more permanent solution to its water source woes. The city applied for an environmental assessment exemption in July to build a pipeline that would allow it to source its water from the Peace River.

“[The Kiskatinaw River] just doesn’t have the water that we need to support our community and the area,” Dober said. 

“So, our long-term fix is, we have an application to run a pipeline to the Peace River. The most sustainable water source in our region is the Peace River and that’s why we’ve chosen [it].” 

An exemption from needing to do an environmental assessment on the pipeline would significantly speed up the process of building it, but Dober said it could still be anywhere from two to five years before shovels enter the ground.

“It’s not just our community,” he added. “We supply to the Village of Pouce Coupe and to rural residents around here, there’s a lot that depends on our water source, so we’re determined to get that fix so that other councils in the future, and residents, don’t have to go through this.”

To view the full interview with Dober, look below.