I was listening to Mike Duncan's podcasts on the revolutions of 1848 and Anita Garibaldi was mentioned. She seems like a fascinating person but a quick google didn't turn up any non-Wikipedia English language results.
"Concerns about The Barrier's instability due to volcanic, tectonic, or heavy rainfall activity prompted the provincial government to declare the area immediately below it unsafe for human habitation in 1981. This led to the evacuation of the small resort village of Garibaldi nearby, and the relocation of residents to new recreational subdivisions away from the hazard zone." -Wikipedia
"In addition to flooding recorded in the region prior to the draining of the lake, significant flood events in the area of the former Sumas Lake have occurred on numerous occasions, notably in 1894, 1948, 1972 and 2007 due to major spring freshets of the Fraser River, along with November 1990 and November 2021 due to extreme rainfall." - Wikipedia
According to Lenore Newman, director of the University of the Fraser Valleyโs Food and Agriculture Institute, the damages are estimated to be in the billions of dollars. If we can predict billions of dollars of damage at least every 100 years, why continue? Why not restore the habitat, which brings back fishing and other harvestable plants, and allows potential economic avenues through recreation.
Obviously the comparison to Garibaldi townsite is apples to oranges, but it's clear that Sumas Prairie isn't the safest for human habitation either, and I doubt much improvement to the infrastructure will occur. Ultimately no matter what happens someone will be upset with the decision, whether to relocate, or rebuild. Furthermore there is the moral aspect to this question beyond the economics and logistics, concerning the desires of the people who have used that lake for millennia to further their livelihood, and that cannot be ignored.
