EDITORIAL – Noble Creek Irrigation System’s demise was avoidable

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

NOBLE CREEK Irrigation System residents learned a little more Monday night about what’s in store for them and I think I’m safe in saying they aren’t happy about it.

After hearing a presentation from the City on plans for decommissioning the system this fall, they objected to being broken up into small groups to discuss it. They wanted to hear what their neighbours were asking and being told.

But the divide-and-conquer strategy, in which questions from the floor aren’t allowed, prevailed, so they milled around staff and councillors with their questions and opinions.

How, some asked, are they supposed to get their own intakes built before next spring, or even find enough contractors to do the work?

The City knows neither how many of the 47 properties have access to the river, or how many are located where a private intake is practical.

So why not spend the $3 million decommissioning costs on putting in permanent instead of temporary rip rapping to control erosion and save the system?

The NCIS has had challenges since it was built in 1903 but the City has had 50 years to fix it since it took it over after amalgamation. Instead, it has been allowed to deteriorate to the supposed point of no return.

After an earlier offer to partially subsidize a $14 million upgrade, the City came up with a plan to keep the system going at least until 2028.

But then came this year’s high water levels on the North Thompson River, which brought erosion issues at the system’s intake, and suddenly it was all off the table.

There’s no doubt about the impact of shutting down the system — users face the prospect of dryland farming or taking the cash payout offered by the City to put toward building their own systems one by one.

It all could have been avoided if the City (and, yes, I was part of it for a while) had acted years ago.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.