qRD receives $243,500 in grant funding for the preliminary design for Thulin and Lund Lakes Dams renewal, and removal
qathet, B.C. – The qathet Regional District is pleased to announce it has successfully received $243,500 in grant funding through the provincial Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding (DRIF) program to support the preliminary design for the removal and renewal of the Thulin and Lund Lakes dams within the Lund Waterworks Improvement District. This preliminary design project is the foundation of the flood mitigation plan which proposes to construct a new Thulin Lake dam which is essential to the long-term water supply and climate resilience of the Lund community and to decommission the Lund Lake dam which is no longer viable for continued operation, and poses potential environmental and safety risks.
The preliminary design will address flood channel and downstream constraints, identify at-risk infrastructure, and outline expected storm scenarios and water volumes. It will recommend improvements to stage storage and discharge flows at Thulin and Lund Lakes, identify additional flow restrictions, and establish clear emergency notification procedures to reduce downstream impacts. The design will also include detailed flood mitigation measures.
“Thulin and Lund Lakes Dams are regulated under the B.C. Dam Safety Regulation and have been classified as High Consequence structures, and recent audits by the provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship have identified significant safety deficiencies, including inadequate spillway capacity, overtopping risk during extreme rainfall events, and increased failure probability due to climate-driven hydrologic loading, and seismic vulnerability,” said Mikhael Drosdovech, Manager of Assets and Capital Projects for the qathet Regional District. “The proposed work supported by this grant is based on comprehensive Dam Safety Review reports for both dams conducted by EBA (Tetra Tech) in 2012, a further Tetra Tech report on the Lund Lake dam (2017), provincial Dam Safety Audits completed in 2024, and MSR Solutions Thulin Lake and Lund Lake Dams Safety Review conducted in November, 2024. This critical design work will help prevent the costs, disruptions to people and businesses, and damage to critical infrastructure that a dam failure could cause.”
“The qathet Regional District is committed to protecting the safety and security of our residents. In partnership with our project partners, we aim to develop comprehensive plans to safeguard critical roadways, infrastructure, and properties from flood risks associated with aging dam infrastructure, increasing climate risks, and potential seismic events. We thank the Province and MLA Hon. Randene Neill for their support of this essential work,” said Electoral Area A Director Jason Lennox. “The qathet Regional District also extends its gratitude to our project partners, the Lund Waterworks District and the Tla’amin Nation, for their support of this work since 2024. This funding would not have been possible without their collaboration.”
About Improvement Districts: Improvement Districts are independently governed and operated services, run on an individual basis by primarily volunteer run organizations. Improvement Districts are not managed by municipalities or regional districts. These organizations were established by the Province of British Columbia and empowered to carry out the necessary administration and operation of small vital community services ranging from fire protective services to water. Improvement Districts providing water have their systems tested by Vancouver Coastal Health and may be subject to further testing by the improvement district operator. To learn more about Improvement Districts, please visit the Province of British Columbia website.
About the qathet Regional District:
The qathet Regional District serves the rural areas from Lund to sḵelhp (Saltery Bay), the City of Powell River, Texada Island, Savary Island, and Lasqueti Island. The qRD provides some services, through contract, to Tla’amin Nation. To learn more please visit qathet.ca.
CONTACT:
Mikhael Drosdovech, Manager of Assets and Capital Projects
#202 – 4675 Marine Avenue, Powell River, BC V8A 2L2
P: 604∙485∙2260 | E: administration@qathet.ca