British ColumbiaRising waters in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have “not meant good news” for farmers in a part of the province still recovering from devastating floods four years ago, the B.C’.s agriculture minister said on Friday. 68 farms included in evacuation orders, 98 others on evacuation alert as of Friday afternoonNick Logan · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 10:24 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.A flooded farm and fields are seen in Abbotsford’s Sumas Prairie area on Friday — four years after floods in the same area in 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Rising waters in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have “not meant good news” for farmers in a part of the province still recovering from devastating floods four years ago, the province’s agriculture minister said on Friday. Lana Popham said the deluge that hit the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford has already submerged a couple of poultry barns in the region.With 68 farms under evacuation order and another 98 on alert, she said the situation is taking “an emotional toll.” At a news conference Friday afternoon, she said she could “hear that fear” in the voices of farmers she’s spoken with. Farmers in the Sumas Prairie area went through devastating floods that left the region underwater for weeks in November 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Although Popham said the provincial government is working with farming associations to assist them as needed, there is frustration that a vital agricultural region is once again underwater —both from farmers and politicians alike. Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens demanded action on flood mitigation on both sides of the border to deal with overflow from the Nooksack River in Washington state. WATCH | Abbotsford mayor says ‘enough is enough’ with federal inaction:Abbotsford, B.C., mayor calls out federal government over flooding: ‘We need action now’Ross Siemens, mayor of Abbotsford, B.C., took issue with the federal government on Friday as his community faces yet another round of devastating flooding. ‘To put my city residents at risk once again, needlessly, because of inaction is frustrating.’Siemens said the the safety of residents, farms, livestock and provincial food security are all “needlessly” at risk because of inaction since the 2021 flood. “Unless they do something on the American side, there’s not much we can do on our end,” Siemens said. Flooded farms are seen from above on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)It’s a sentiment that poultry farmer Jeffrey Spitters shares. “We have no control of it,” he said on Thursday. “Our hands are tied in the sense that we’re at the mercy of what they decide to do.” He’s been farming in the Sumas Prairie since 2013 and endured the 2021 floods. Although his farm is built up high enough that it might not be affected by floodwaters, Spitters says that everyone raising livestock and growing crops in the Sumas Prairie may not be as lucky.Conservative MP for Mission-Matsqui-Abbotsford Brad Vis says the federal government has ignored the region for too long. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)Brad Vis, the Conservative Party MP for Mission-Matsqui-Abbotsford, says the region received money to “build back what we had” after the 2021 floods — the most expensive natural disaster in the province’s history.But the Tory MP says the region received no federal funds to do it “in a way that accounts for these atmospheric rivers and a changing climate.” He says its frustrating for farmers, including members of his own family who operate a poultry farm on the Sumas Prairie and are under an evacuation order, that there hasn’t been infrastructure improvements in the past four years.People bring possessions out of a flooded barn in Sumas Prairie West on Thursday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)”We are critical to Canada’s supply chains and food sovereignty, and we have not received the attention we deserve,” he said.He added that, like Abbotsford’s mayor, he has also pleaded with federal ministers “not to ignore us.” WATCH | The 2021 floods and how mitigation work is still lagging:B.C. is flooding again and all eyes are on Washington stateFloodwaters are rising again in B.C.’s Fraser Valley on Thursday, even after the rain has stopped. The surge is coming from Washington state, where the Nooksack River is spilling northward for the second time in four years. Atmospheric rivers amped up by climate change are stacking up, and cross-border mitigation work is still dragging on. The CBC’s Johanna Wagstaffe looks into why B.C. is once again waiting for a flood peak it can’t fully control. According to a statement from the City of Abbotsford Friday afternoon, federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski requested to meet with Siemens after he criticized the federal government for not contacting him at all since the flooding began. “The [minister] advised of potential future grant opportunities that the [city] may be able to consider,” the statement read. ABOUT THE AUTHORNick Logan is a senior writer with CBC based in Vancouver. He is a multi-platform reporter and producer, with a particular focus on international news. You can reach out to him at nick.logan@cbc.ca.With files from Baneet Braich and The Canadian Press
Fear and frustration as floods put Abbotsford, B.C., farms under threat yet again
