Pemberton Valley Dyking District
Although our office is small, the job we do is rather large. Maintaining, adapting and upgrading the Valley’s flood protection system is no small feat.
Role and Function:
Pemberton Valley Dyking District is formally considered to be an Improvement District. This autonomous local government body is responsible for providing a service that benefits the residents in a community – in the case of the Pemberton Valley, that service is flood protection.
Improvement districts are brought into existence by the provincial government through Cabinet Orders, which approve their incorporation in a document called Letters Patent. The Letters Patent contain the name of the improvement district, its boundary, and the services it will provide to the residents within the boundary.
The PVDD’s Letters Patent is dated January 31, 1947 where, “The object of the said improvement district shall be the acquisition, maintenance, repair, replacement, improvement, and operation of works for the reclamation and development of the lands in the improvement district by dyking, draining, pumping, and incidental means, and all matters incidental thereto”.
Improvement districts finance their operations and services through taxes and/or tolls collected directly from landowners. Funding also comes from grants from the Provincial and Federal governments.
