Piles of silt loom large at the Island 22 boat launch having washed in from the 2020 freshet on the Fraser River.
A sign is warning motorists that their trucks “may get stuck” in the mud at the boat launch.
It’s all because of the way spring freshet rolled out on the Fraser River in 2020. There were two water-level peaks reached during the spring freshet snow melt, which is fairly unusual.
READ MORE: Second peak for 2020 freshet
The second one went higher than the first and inundated some riverside facilities, washing the extra silt and sediment into the boat launch area at Island 22 Regional Park in Chilliwack, said David Urban, manager of outdoor recreation and planning for the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD).
As a result some boat-launch users have recently gotten stuck in the silt, and had to call a tow truck, after spinning their wheels and sinking into the clay-like material at the water’s edge.
“Once the tires get stuck, it’s hard to pull out them out especially on an incline,” Urban said.
In response, a contractor has been working to remove the extra deposits of silty sediment for weeks now. As the water has been receding, they’ve been removing, and piling up the silted materials at the edge of the boat launch.
READ MORE: Island 22 closed due to flooding 2018
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