Editor:
Re: Know the impacts before decision on dump trucks, letter to the editor, Aug. 30
Ed Ries offers his usual good advice when he asks for a fill import plan ahead of any decision on the Southlands. The real problem with the fill elevation, however, is that an amendment to the OCP will be required and Century's proposal for a Flood Construction Level (FCL) of Elevation 4.2 m geodetic is not high enough.
It is clear from Delta's own consultants' reports that, in order to comply with provincial guidelines on climate change adaptation and coastal flood hazard land use to 2100, the FCL should be based on a still water level at a geodetic elevation of 4.8 m. A revised report to Delta from their consultants showed that a perimeter berm with crest elevation at 4.8 m geodetic would be needed if a lesser FCL elevation was to be adopted.
It is significant that buried in the reports associated with the recent public hearing on the float home development proposed for Deas Slough is a requirement from the provincial dike inspector, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, for access to raise the dike to elevation 5.6 m geodetic at some future date.
What is needed obviously is not just a fill import plan but a comprehensive plan for protection against storm surge floods and sea level rise for the whole of Boundary Bay and Beach Grove, before a decision can be made on Southlands.
Adrian Wightman
