Work will soon begin to remove a substantial amount of gravel from Cowichan River in an area close to the popular Rotary Park trail system that has been closed since it was washed out in the atmospheric river event that struck the region in 2021.
The City of Duncan announced at its meeting on May 12 that it has received a $436,000 grant from the BC Government’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund to help deal with the removal of the gravel, and possibly prevent a similar wash-out from happening in the future.
Approximately 110 metres of the multi-use gravel trail that meanders along the Cowichan River was washed away during the significant rain and flooding event which exposed tree roots, causing one tree to fall across the trail and destabilizing others.
The damage resulted in trail closures and detours at that section of the 10-kilometre trail system for the public’s safety that have been in place ever since.
However, Duncan’s corporate officer Paige MacWilliam said that, unfortunately, the section of the trail that was washed out can’t be reopened as the damage from erosion is too great.
She said $111,000 of the grant has been awarded to Northwest Hydraulics Consultants Ltd. for environmental permitting and to remove approximately 2,500 cubic meters of gravel that has accumulated in the Cowichan River directly across from the site of the river pathway as a result of the weather event in 2021, and the plan is to complete this project during a short window this August.
"The gravel removal will reduce the risk of further erosion to that riverbank section for a significant period of time until the sediments naturally build up again," MacWilliam said.
"The grant is funding the selection and design of a long-term option for protecting the dike from future risk of further riverbank erosion."
Preparation for the gravel removal includes consultation and involvement with Cowichan Tribes and the Municipality of North Cowichan for access to the gravel bar from the south side of the river.
MacWilliam said $150,000 of the grant has been earmarked for planning future riverbank erosion mitigation in the area, with the rest to be spent on further in-stream works.
A number of other trail systems in the Cowichan Valley also experienced extensive damage during the weather event in 2021.
The Cowichan Valley Regional District received a grant of more than $800,000 in June, 2024, to repair a 40-metre section of the Cowichan Valley Trail, the largest and last of the many washed out sections of that trail system that had to be repaired after significant rains and flooding in 2021.
