MRC Pontiac and Municipality of Waltham seeking solutions to Black River flooding

MRC Pontiac and Municipality of Waltham seeking solutions to Black River flooding

MRC Pontiac and the Municipality of Waltham are seeking a solution to the flooding caused by frazil ice on the Black River, which has happened intermittently for years. This has caused frustration for local residents using the Black Rive Road to access their cottages, some of whom blame Evolugen a private company that operates a dam on the river.

MRC Public Safety Coordinator Julien Gagnon explained that at the previous MRC Pontiac council of mayors meeting, council approved the formation of a committee, and the application for two grants through the Programme de résilience et d’adaptation face aux inondations (PRAFI) to study the issue and come up with possible solutions.

Gagnon said that there had been some studies done on the issue in the past, one of them by the municipality and the other commissioned by Evolugen. He said that those studies eliminated some suggested solutions, but weren’t as comprehensive as the ones they were planning for. He added that the grant application was done in collaboration with Evolugen and also had a letter of support from the Ministry of Public Security.