Editor:
I’d like to thank Ian Paton for hosting a round table last week on the economic, social and environmental importance of dredging to Delta.
After decades of neglect, Delta’s river channels were finally dredged in 2015 thanks to a coalition of community groups, the City of Delta, the Province of BC and Port Metro Vancouver. However, the absence of ongoing maintenance dredging means the welfare of our residents and businesses are again threatened.
The Fraser River drains between 20 and 30 million tons of sediment annually into the Fraser delta, enough sand to fill 5,000 Olympic swimming pools. For the same reason we maintain our highways and roads, we need secure dikes and sufficient waterflow in our river channels. Failure to do so risks catastrophic floods and renders our river channels inoperable and all that depend on them extinct.
Once the election is behind us the Ladner Sediment Group looks forward to working with all levels of government to ensure our collective future.
Michael Owen
