If you have walked the Squamish River Dike behind the Railway Museum of British Columbia, you have likely seen the sizable orange pump and its connected hose that crosses the dike to the river and wondered what was up with that.
The District of Squamish tells The Squamish Chief that the pump is in place to assist with conveying stormwater and dewatering (groundwater) flows from the Queensway Lift Station repair work into the Squamish River.
The lift station failed on Jan. 14 after a king tide, resulting in about 1,587 cubic metres — 1.59 million litres — of sewage and greywater being diverted into the Bridge Pond of the Squamish Estuary to prevent homes and businesses from being flooded.
"To be clear, this is groundwater and not sewage flows," said District spokesperson Rachel Boguski in an email to The Squamish Chief regarding the pump in the photo.
"High river levels require the flap gate to be closed to avoid localized flooding from the river side of the dike," she added.
"The pump is therefore required to pump the water to the river, ensuring nearby properties are not flooded by water from the land side of the dike."
