Fraser River Floodplain

The Fraser River frontage within the City of Surrey is approximately 22km long, with dykes protecting most of the shorelines. View a map. The Fraser River floodplain encompasses 776 hectares of developed land that includes a high-density mix of industrial and residential properties.

The system of dykes within the Fraser River frontage as seen below is comprised of 3.9km mix of concrete flood walls (red, yellow and orange), 1.4km earth dykes (purple), 2.3km of raised ground and temporary earth dykes and 16 crossing structures.

The flood plain is serviced by 4 pump stations that drain rainwater and groundwater from behind the dykes at times of high river levels due to either tides, storm surges or annual freshet conditions.

History of Fraser River flood protection

The South Westminster area, near the Pattullo bridge, is a very low flood bench area of the Fraser River that has historically experienced flooding problems during the Fraser River freshet. In 1920, the South Westminster Dyking district was formed providing 2.6 miles of dyke, 7 flood boxes, and 4.3 miles of interior ditches. Then in 1930 the provincial dyking commissioner took over some dyking activities after the district went into receivership.

By 1967 there were 500 homes in the flood plain area plus a more significant industrial presence. In this same year the province asked the City to take over the Dyking District due to lack of maintenance and financial difficulties. The area flooded again in 1972 and this is why in 1975 the South Westminster Dyking District transferred to Surrey under an agreement with the province to improve the existing dyke and flood protection systems.

In 1979 the province and CNR reached agreement on a floodwall alignment and after the works started the federal government pulled additional funding for the overall Fraser River Flood control program. The federal/provincial program expired before the dykes were fully tied in. Additional works to upgrade the dykes were conducted in 1997, 2000 and 2007.The City, in cooperation with the Federal and provincial governments, continues to monitor and upgrade the existing dykes to provide for an improved level of protection.

View the Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy.

Find out about flood alerts along the Fraser River.