TSIIGEHTCHIC/ARCTIC RED RIVER
Every day for more than a month, 81-year-old Tsiigehtchic elder George Niditchie Sr. has been chiseling a channel through the ice-covered ground in an attempt to keep his camp from flooding.

Tsiigehtchic elder George Niditchie Sr., 81, tries to make a trench to lead water away from his camp on March 2. Frozen culverts on the Dempster Highway mean water from a creek is overflowing onto his property. - photo courtesy of Lawrence Norbert

In the winter, water is freezing solid and blocking culverts along the Dempster Highway above his camp. Unable to get through, the water runs alongside the road and over Niditchie's property.

Now, he spends his days picking away at the ice, trying to create a trough that will lead water away from his camp.

"I had to make a little channel down and chisel it out every day and break the ice open and let the water down that way," Niditchie said.

Repairing the problem is simple and it's been done before, he added.

Last year, the Department of Transportation used steam to thaw the ice in the culverts, which solved the issue.

"They steamed it out and then all the water shot down that way and it never come back up," Niditchie said.

But this year, the department has refused to help.

"All they have to do is just go there and steam those culverts out, that's all I want them to do," he said. "But they don't do that."

Frederick Blake Jr., MLA for Mackenzie Delta, said he has brought Niditchie's concerns to Transportation Minister Wally Schumann.

"They're pretty reluctant," he said.

The Charter Community of Tsiigehtchic sent a request to the Department of Transportation asking for equipment to thaw the culverts, but were told there was no funding available, Blake said.

One of the pieces of equipment required is an electric trace heater, which would heat up the culverts and thaw the ice.

"You plug in a generator for a couple of days, which would get the water flowing," Blake Jr. said. "It's very simple actually."

Merle Carpenter, the transportation department's superintendent for the Beaufort region, said the problem has been ongoing for years.

Niditchie built a log house in the area about 17 years ago, but the land was repeatedly flooding. The home was moved about nine years later to its current location, about half-a-kilometre away.

Flooding was still a problem, so the department installed a new culvert in 2015 to help address the issue.

"We replaced the culvert in September 2015 at the request of trying to help Mr. Niditchie, to keep the water flowing away from his new cabin and site," he said.

But it's not working, Niditchie said.

"I can't even hardly walk to there now," he said about the amount of ice.

Carpenter said the area is prone to flooding and Niditchie made a decision to build there.

"It's his choice," he said. "It was happening well before he even moved or built a cabin on that site," he said.

But Niditchie said he and his family had used the area long before the Dempster Highway was constructed. He no longer lives in the log house and now lives in the Tsiigehtchic elder's home.

Blake Jr. said he will continue to push the department to provide assistance.

"I'm just hopeful the department does try their best to find funds," he said.

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