The town of Smithers is looking for funding to pay for a project that will start the process of protecting the south slope of the Bulkley River near the regional airport.
Council approved a staff request to apply for grant of up to $300,000 from UBCM at its last regular meeting.
The town will be the primary applicant for the Airport South Slope Land Use Planning and Monitoring with Equipment Project, which is a regional project and the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako will be a partnering applicant— which allows them to apply for more money.
According to a report from staff, Smithers, RDBN, and others rely on the Bulkley River and the Smithers Regional Airport lands which intersect. The riverbank is eroding and being impacted by climate change, and the erosion is increasing the possibility of a steep hillside above the river collapsing.
Should the hill collapse, it will impact the river’s flow and fish, and the south end of the airport’s runway.
The money, if the application is successful, will be used to carry out a geotechnical investigation through the acquisition of LiDAR imagery from 2019, acquisition of new LiDAR imagery, a drilling investigation, and a field review by qualified geotechnical professionals.
This will produce an analysis of movement and slope changes over time, which can also be used to measure the effectiveness of slope stabilization measures. This will be used to assess landslide conditions and provide recommendations to improve slope stabilization.
Town staff told council, if approved, this project will directly benefit the environmental well-being of Smithers and all downstream communities, by protecting the Bulkley River ecosystem from riverbank erosion and risk of landslide. A landslide could devastate the habitat of fish and other river-dependent species.
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