The village of Cache Creek is holding an online public information session regarding flood mitigation.
The session on Thursday, April 4 is regarding the village’s floodplain bylaw, which was created in response to recurring flooding events in the community.
Cache Creek has seen several floods over the last decade: there were floods in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, and most recently 2023. The 2017 flood took the life of fire chief Clayton Cassidy, and the 2023 flood damaged homes and businesses and prompted the closure of Highway 97 through the town.
The purpose of the bylaw is to “minimize the risk of flood damage and safeguard property and human lives and will apply to areas known to be affected by flooding,” according to an informational guide about the session.
Damian Couture, Cache Creek’s Chief Administrative Officer, says that the changes to the bylaw is for long-term planning. “We can make progressive change over a period of time to make sure we are not building those types of structures in these places, to keep people away from flood-risk areas.”
The co-host of the virtual presentation is TRUE Consulting, a Kamloops-based land surveying and engineering company which has worked with Cache Creek on flood mitigation projects in 2017 and 2020. Couture says the village went back to TRUE because of the experience the firm has had in dealing with Cache Creek.
“We work with them [and] we kind of skip the introduction phase because we are not building that historical knowledge of the community with them because they have been there with us,” he explains. “They have an understanding of the community, so we see that as a benefit.”
The online presentation will be held on April 4 between 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Zoom, and pre-registration is required in order to attend; call (250) 320-8796 or email gis@true.bc.ca to register.
There will also be an in-person information session on Wednesday, April 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cache Creek Community Hall at 1270. There will be no difference in content between the open house and virtual presentation.
