Hammersley Official Opening

A major and essential component of the Agassiz drainage system has completed its much needed redesign and construction. Today Mayor Sylvia Pranger and Council, along with The Honourable Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, cut the ceremonial ribbon to celebrate the opening of the Hammersley Pump Station.

In 2017 the District received approximately $4.17 million in grant funding to upgrade the Hammersley Pump Station, which was administered by Emergency Management BC on behalf of the Province.

The Hammersley Pump Station protects an area of approximately 33 square kilometres consisting of 160 farms, about 200 residential properties, two federal correctional facilities, and fifteen other mixed property types. During the freshet, when water levels rise due to melting snow and run off in the mountains, the Hammersley Pump Station is the sole drainage option for the District’s largest slough, Mountain Slough.

The new pump station houses two Archimedes screw pumps which will provide 5 cubic metres per second of pumping capacity, helping to alleviate rising water concerns faced by surrounding properties. The fish-friendly pumps will help juvenile salmon migrate to the Fraser River and will increase salmon stock in the Mountain Slough over time. The pumps will be able to maintain water levels consistently between 10.5 and 10.8 metres above sea level which is also expected to help the endangered Oregon Spotted Frog and Salish Sucker habitats within the District.

“Thank you to the Province for fully funding this project, thank you to the contractors, consultants and construction crews for completing the work," said Mayor Pranger. "Thank you to all those we collaborated with to support the fish friendly pumps and thank you to staff for coordinating the execution of it all. We work hard to balance our community and environmental needs and I think this pump station represents this balance well.”

Minister Farnworth stated, "We're pleased to be able to support communities who have mapped out specific mitigation projects to keep their communities safer. The opening of htis p ump station is going to better protect this entire area, in a way that balances community needs with environmental protections, and that's a huge success."