The Municipality of Brockton has constructed a temporary dyke in the community of Pinkerton, to prevent further flooding this spring.
When water levels in the Teeswater River rose last week, a private dam was breached, resulting in flooding of the lower village, including across Bruce Road 15.
Mayor Chris Peabody said the Municipality had to act quick, using the town's emergency fund to put protections in place.
"It certainly didn't come from the province. It's money that Brockton had to spend," he said. "The initial report from bureaucrats in different ministries are we won't get any help, but that didn't stop me from spending money from Brockton's emergency fund to help these homeowners, otherwise through the whole spring flooding season, their homes would be in jeopardy as well as their safety.
The estimated cost of the work was $50,000, but Peabody said local contractors Reich's and Schmidt's, along with roads crews installed the dyke quicker than expected.
"It's already set up, it definitely cut the flow off and diverted it back into the river," he said. "For the entire duration of the flood, I wasn't able to go across the road, but last night, I was able to, for the first time, get to the other side. So the flooding across the road and in the area of the homes had stopped as of (Thursday) night."
Peabody also said he isn't sure when Bruce Road 15 will be able to reopen, but based on his estimation, the damage wasn't too bad.
"It looked like the road survived the flood," he said. "Think it would need a load of gravel or two on the northside to shore it up, but it did not look in bad shape. It didn't look like a washout."
It will be up to Bruce County to assess the status of the road. For now, a detour is in place.
The private dam won't be able to be repaired until conditions improve, likely in the summer. The temporary dyke will remain in place until then.
Peabody says the Municipality will also advocate for support and resources to address this situation.
"Going down the road it does raise questions for any municipality with a dam, whether its locally-owned, municipally-owned, privately-owned: these things carry a huge liability and risk. I think the province will need to take a look at a maybe a fund to cover when dams burst," he said.
