The Village of Cache Creek has received a grant of $394,000 to carry out sewer protection and flood mitigation planning.
The funding comes from the province’s Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding program. It will support the planning and design phase of the Cache Creek Sewer Protection Options Analysis and Design project, which addresses critical flood risks that have increasingly threatened local infrastructure, homes, and businesses.
Since 2015 the community has had a series of floods, most recently in 2023, and the grant will help the village be proactive in protecting its sanitary sewer system and supporting long-term resilience.
“This funding allows us to take an essential step toward protecting Cache Creek’s infrastructure and safeguarding the well-being of our residents,” said Cache Creek mayor John Ranta. “By investing in planning today, we are better positioned to mitigate the impacts of future flooding events.”
The project will include technical assessments, detailed engineering designs, and engagement with stakeholders to guide future structural mitigation. At the heart of the project is the protection of a key sanitary sewer main that currently services more than 100 properties along, and to the south of, Stage Road, and which is highly vulnerable to erosion and flood damage.
“That line has been impacted in the past, most notably in 2020, when a significant part of the municipal response [to flooding] was to deal with the exposed line,” explains Cache Creek CAO Damian Couture. “There was a significant washout, and about 20 feet of the line was exposed, so we had to move rapidly to mitigate that.
“We could armour and protect that one portion, but it wasn’t considered a long-term solution, and [during flooding] in 2021 and 2023 we were watching that spot as we know it’s our weak point. If something’s going to go wrong it will be there.”
If the line is compromised, it could lead to severe infiltration during flood events, overwhelming the village's wastewater treatment system and causing system-wide failures. Couture notes that a challenge moving forward will be working within a tight corridor bounded by Stage Road and Highway 1.
“There is critical highway infrastructure there, so we have to be careful. If we try to put certain control measures in place it could impact the highway, so there are ongoing conversations with the Ministry of Transportation to see how we accomplish that with as little impact as possible.”
However, a side benefit to the project could be the creation of more green public spaces and walking areas within the village.
“Our wastewater line goes along the creek, and we have manhole covers that will need to be raised so they can be accessed, so if they’re raised and then graded it could possibly serve as a path which would be easy to maintain,” says Couture.
“Every property owner along the way from Quartz Road to the campground will be notified, and we know there are some archaeological sites along that stretch, specifically along the creek, so there will be lots of consultation with First Nations. Input will inform whatever the final vision for the project looks like, and influence how we proceed and what we do.”
