The provincial government is continuing its work to eliminate some of the flood risks in the Britannia Creek watershed by decommissioning Lower, Mineral Creek and Mountain Lake dams this summer.

Last year, Utopia Lake and Park Lane dams were decommissioned and Tunnel Dam was notched. Further work at Tunnel Dam, other than minor maintenance, has been deferred until 2017.

Last summer’s work resulted in the deposition of gravel and small boulders in the lower section of Britannia Creek. Plans are being made to remove some of this material to increase the flood-flow capacity in this portion of the creek. Work will be done in the summer during low flows before the salmon return in September.

Work on the dams is just one part of the continued efforts to clean up and restore the historic mining site. At one time, the dams enabled the mine and the community to be an important economic driver of the province. However, the dams have been abandoned since the mine closed in 1974.