Grand Forks Rebuilt Stronger: A Milestone Years in the Making

Community members, local leaders and project partners gather to celebrate the completion of the Grand Forks Flood Mitigation Program.

The completion of the Grand Forks Flood Mitigation Program marks an important milestone for a community that has demonstrated extraordinary strength, patience and resilience.

I was honoured to join community members, local leaders and project partners in Grand Forks to recognize the completion of this significant work.

The devastating flood of May 2018 remains deeply etched in the memory of this community. As the Kettle and Granby rivers rose, residents were forced from their homes, businesses were damaged and entire neighbourhoods faced uncertainty. About one third of the city’s residents were evacuated, and more than 500 buildings throughout the Boundary region were damaged.

The years that followed required far more than simply rebuilding what had been lost. They required difficult decisions, sustained cooperation and a long-term commitment to making Grand Forks safer and better prepared for future flooding.

The completed program includes new diking, stormwater and drainage infrastructure, permanent pump stations and restored floodplain.

The completed flood mitigation program includes more than three kilometres of new diking, upgraded stormwater and drainage systems, two permanent stormwater pump stations, restored floodplain and the creation of an off-river habitat channel.

Together, these projects now provide greater flood protection for more than 400 residents, over 200 residential properties, 108 commercial and industrial properties and an estimated 875 jobs. The protected area includes much of downtown Grand Forks and the city’s main industrial area.

These numbers help illustrate the scale of the project, but they cannot fully capture what this work means to the people who lived through the flood and the long recovery that followed.

For many residents, recovery involved the loss of homes, neighbourhoods and familiar places. Families and businesses endured years of disruption while plans were developed, properties were acquired and major construction moved forward. Those experiences deserve to be acknowledged as we celebrate the completion of this work.

MLA Donegal Wilson speaks with community members and project partners during the flood-mitigation completion ceremony.

This achievement was made possible through cooperation between the City of Grand Forks, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, the provincial and federal governments, contractors, emergency personnel and countless community members who continued to advocate for a safer future.

I want to recognize Mayor Everett Baker, Grand Forks City Council, city staff and everyone who helped guide this complex project from recovery to completion.

Most importantly, I want to recognize the residents of Grand Forks. Their determination and commitment to their community carried Grand Forks through an incredibly difficult chapter.

MLA Donegal Wilson speaks to community members and project partners during the flood-mitigation completion ceremony.

Flood-mitigation infrastructure cannot erase what happened in 2018, but it can help protect families, businesses, jobs and essential community infrastructure in the years ahead.

Grand Forks has worked hard to rebuild stronger. This milestone is an opportunity to remember what the community endured, recognize how far it has come and thank everyone who helped make a more resilient future possible.