The City’s current flood mitigation infrastructure consists of its dikes, ditches, pump stations, and flood boxes. The City is almost entirely protected by 60 km of dikes, which are critical to protecting the City’s low-lying areas and key infrastructure from river flooding.
Pitt Meadows / Maple Ridge Diking District
The Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge Diking District is located in the south central part of Pitt Meadows and southwestern corner of Maple Ridge. The Diking District is defined by the Fraser, Pitt and Alouette River dikes on the south, west and north boundaries, respectively, and a rise of land in Maple Ridge at approximately 201 Street and the Canadian Pacific Railway alignment on the east.
The Diking District includes 3,546 hectares of land (3,136 hectares in Pitt Meadows and 410 hectares in Maple Ridge), while the total drainage basin, which contributes stormwater runoff into the Diking District is 4,062 hectares (3,535 hectares in Pitt Meadows and 527 hectares in Maple Ridge).
Main Drainage Areas
The municipality is divided into four drainage areas that are defined by dikes and serviced by floodboxes and pump stations. These include:
- Area 1 (Dike Area 1/Alouette Pump Station Catchment), discharges to the Alouette River
- Area 2 (Fenton Drainage Area), discharges to the Alouette and Pitt Rivers
- Area 3 (Kennedy Drainage Area, including McKechnie), discharges to the Alouette, Pitt and Fraser Rivers
- Area 4 (Pitt Polder Catchment Area), discharges to the Pitt River
A fifth catchment area, the Pitt-Addington Catchment Area, is mainly undeveloped. The majority of the areas are drained through rural (ditch and culvert) systems, with the exception of the urban development Area 3, which is serviced by a combination of ditches, culverts and storm sewers.
Because of their low elevation, the catchment areas are drained to the Pitt, Alouette and Fraser Rivers by a combination of floodboxes and pump stations (for discharge when river water levels are higher).
Maps
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has produced Lower Mainland Dike Inventory maps. Download:
Flood Preparation
Learn more about flood preparation.