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Drainage improvements on Mckenzie Creek aim to counter flooding: Six Nations

A flooded field. A large tree sits in the center with water surrounding it. Busghes can be seen on both sides of the field.
Six Nations Public Works have awarded County Line Construction a contract to begin work to improve the Six Nations drainage system along McKenzie Creek on 3rd Line Rd. Photo courtesy of Peggychoucair from Pixabay.
Andrew Dow - CJKS - Ohsweken • ON | 25-07-2023
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Six Nations will undergo a drainage improvement project to resist against flooding.

The current area of focus will surround 3rd Line Road, a concession between Mohawk Road and Seneca Road, which was identified as an area that was prone to flooding. SN Public Works were seeking approval from Six Nations Elected Council to award the McKenzie Creek Drainage Improvement Project to County Line Construction during the July 17 general finance meeting.

Michael Montour, Six Nations Director of Public Works, spoke on the project and the analysis that has gone into it to help SN Public Works identify the areas of interest.

"This project is in relation to a lot of the work that we've done in the past and are currently trying to do for drainage," Montour said. "As people may or may not know, the 2019 community plan had highlighted drainage as a priority issue, and then we did a 2022 survey on community priorities and drainage came back as one of the high priorities as well on that."

Montour says the studies on McKenzie Creek identified six flood damage centers that would be the focus of the project. He says a subcommittee of the SNEC Environmental Task Force determined that 3rd Line Road would be the area of focus as it was one of the most heavily impacted by flooding.

"We decided that we were going to focus in on the drainage flood damage center on 3rd Line which is just west of the Oliver M. Smith School as that was one of the most heavily impacted, as far as homeowners in that area," he said. "We've done a lot of work to engage those property owners directly. We had a community information session at Oliver M. Smith (School) for those affected community members and we've been talking to them about agreements to get access to do the work and then to maintain the drains."

SNEC approved SN Public Works to award the McKenzie Creek Drainage Improvement Project to County Line Construction in the amount of $646,918.88. The funds will be sourced from The Small Communities Fund ran by the Government of Canada which will cover two thirds of the total project cost meanwhile the remainder of funds have been budgeted by SN Public Works.

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