The Town of Oliver is wrestling with a lot of what-ifs concerning the Gallagher Lake siphon and the potential for more rock fall damage.

On Monday, an engineer gave council some options to address the dilemma.

Steve Underwood from TRUE Consulting said one option is spending $200,000 on a protective cover for the canal. He noted there is a large piece of rock on the bluff that could potentially let go and destroy the siphon.

“It’s a difficult decision to make,” he said, recommending the Town develop a better response time to deal with an emergency.

The Town has been waiting for funding from the federal government to reroute the canal around the lake along Highway 97. The estimated cost is $10.5 million. The provincial government previously committed $5 million but it’s unclear whether that funding is still available.

The Town had applied for disaster mitigation funding on a larger scale, but Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Cowan reported their application was rejected. In any event, spending money on the siphon will mean an increase in water rates.

Mayor Martin Johansen said waiting for funding is like rolling the dice – it’s not a good strategy.

Underwood said the 2016 rockfall was so large it made a crater in the ground where it landed, (the rock was as big as a dump truck). But he noted the subsequent repair has worked beyond everyone’s expectations and should last another 16 years.

Underwood said when the next rock slide crushes the canal, temporary pumps and pipe will need to be deployed to pump the canal around the failure.

“If the rockfall were to occur in the summer, it would cost $900,000 per month to pump 60 per cent of canal capacity.”

Water councillor Rick Machial said council must act quickly to find a solution. He noted if something happens to interrupt  the flow of irrigation water, the Town could be held liable.

“Farmers can sue council (saying we didn’t fix it). We have a responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Machial said crops can only survive so long without water.

He pointed out the value of fruit in this region is “huge,” well over $100 million.

In the end, council requested that TRUE Engineering bring back alternatives to supplying irrigation water, along with emergency response options for the supply of water.

One option that was mentioned on Monday was pumping water from the Buchanan Road water system.