Sumas Lake
The draining of Sumas Lake was first proposed in 1873 as a way to control the flooding that regularly destroyed roads, fields, and settlements throughout the valley. The project did not officially begin until after the First World War. In May of 1919, surveyors arrived to map out the dykes, canals, drainage ditches, and pumping stations that would reshape the landscape. Construction began the following year, in May of 1920.
Massive suction dredges were used to excavate sand and soil as the lake was drained. The work was dangerous. Five men lost their lives during the reclamation project — two drowned, two were electrocuted, and one fell from a structure. On July 9, 1924, Sumas Lake was officially declared dry.
The lake once covered approximately 32,000 acres. Of that, nearly 2,000 acres became canals, ditches, and roads built to manage the reclaimed land.
By the 1930s, the region was rapidly growing. Farms, homes, and businesses expanded across what had once been the waters of Sumas Lake, transforming the area into one of the most productive agricultural regions in British Columbia. The upper Fraser Valley was no longer separated from the lower Fraser Valley, and in time, the Trans-Canada Highway was built across the former lake bed.
Even now, despite generations of all efforts to contain and reshape it, floodwaters continue to return to the valley, as though the land itself remembers the lake that once covered it.