Chilliwack, B.C., farmers worry uncleared ditches harming ability to grow food
Mayor says ditch cleaning complicated by need to keep fish safe, won’t be done until closer to summer
When April Johnman looks out over the fields of her family farm in Chilliwack, B.C., where tall green grass and fresh corn grow throughout the summer, all she sees is mud.
"It's been flooded," she told CBC's The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.
It's been that way since October.
"It's unusual to see the water stay this long."
That flooding, she said, is the result of blocked ditches and culverts near her property. And if it's not cleared, it could be devastating for this year's crops.
"We're trying to grow crops, we're trying to feed our animals, which in turn feeds people," said Johnman's father, David Dyck. "We have enough struggles with doing that."
Dyck pointed out that this comes at a time when Canada is looking to be more self-sustaining, as the U.S. threatens tariffs on Canadian goods, and Canada considers retaliatory measures.
Land set aside for agricultural purposes, known as the Agricultural Land Reserve, only makes up about five per cent of B.C.'s land base, and Dyck argued efforts should be made to ensure that land is viable.
'Passing the buck'
According to Dyck, the ditches in question are usually cleared by the city. Farmers are not allowed to clear them on their own, he said.
According to a 2013 report from the Stewardship Centre for B.C., a lot of crops are grown on land located on valley bottoms adjacent to natural waterways. In many cases, ditches were built to improve drainage, but now, those ditches have become habitat for some fish.
Dyck said he's been trying to connect with the city, province and even Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to find out if and when the ditches will be cleared, only to be stuck in a revolving door of bureaucracy as agencies pass him off to each other.
"Everybody's passing the buck," he said.
When CBC reporters asked the provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship for details on the situation, it said questions should be directed to DFO.
DFO confirmed the city asked for approval to move forward with ditch clearing in March 2024. The department said it determined the work wouldn't harm any fish or habitat, so their approval wasn't required. However, DFO said it gave the city a permit for work that could harm habitat for Salish suckers — an endangered fish species.
"For ditch locations that contain Salish sucker, the Species at Risk Act permit allows ditch cleaning between August 1 to October 15 to protect sensitive life stages for the species," DFO said in a statement.
But for information on timelines for clearing those ditches, DFO said the city should answer.
After repeated requests to the city, Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove said that, indeed, that particular area was scheduled to be cleaned last year.
"We have over 700 kilometres of open channels that we're responsible for cleaning," he said. "That's a lot."
Popove said Dyck and Johnman's ditches are scheduled to be cleaned, but not until closer to summer, because he said it's within the "fish window."
It's not easy work, Popove pointed out; the fish from the streams are scooped out of the water and put in a safe place before the ditch can be properly cleaned. Plus, he said the paperwork involved just to get permission is a challenge in and of itself — the stack of paper in the application is "a couple inches thick," Popove said.
Must be cleared by spring
The ditch being full through the fall and winter has already meant that Dyck and Johnman were unable to plant a cover crop — something like winter wheat that they could harvest come spring.
"A lot of us didn't get our cover crops planted in a timely matter," Dyck said. "Mine have basically failed."
Johnman said the "closer to summer" timeline is too late.
"For our fields to be ready to plant around May long weekend, the water table needs to significantly come down for us to be able to do any kind of fieldwork," she said. "They need to be cleaned before the end of March, and that's still way too late."
If it isn't cleared by spring, they won't be able to plant seeds for corn — which Chilliwack is known for — Dyck said.
"If we can't get out and plant our corn in a timely fashion, all of a sudden [it'll be] late fall when it gets wet again for harvesting."
With files from Melody Jacobson, Julia Lipscombe, Courtney Dickson and The Early Edition