By Marcia Love
The water may have subsided from Eagle Valley Campground two months ago, but the burden of putting the park back together has barely begun.
Pernell and Rebne Lehr, owners of the campground, are operating the upper campground area while the coulee portion of the park remains closed since it was completely submerged during the June 18 flood.
Eagle Valley Campground’s upper park area was re-opened on July 29, but the Lehrs continue to wait for an adjustment from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) on the cost of restoring services in the valley.
Rebne said a PDAP adjuster estimated the cost of damage to the campground to be about $2 million.
However, because the campground is considered a small business, it only qualifies for a maximum of $500,000.
“We’ve left everything the way it is and just cleaned up some of the debris because we’re waiting for the final assessment and report from PDAP,” Rebne said.
Since the flood, the Lehrs have seen visitor numbers dwindling as they are unable to offer many of the park’s attractions.
“All of our reservations cancelled pretty much for the summer,” Pernell explained. “But we had no idea when we were going to be re-opening and people wanted to make their summer plans.”
Because a number of the park’s services were located in the valley, visitors are unable to use the beach area, pool or hot tub.
“The pool was the big attraction we had from the beginning,” Rebne said. “Now that we don’t have it, people with families want something to do. So it’s definitely affected business.”
The park has 20 powered camp sites and 15 non-power sites available in its upper area. It’s playground and arcade are available for visitors, but Rebne said many people were drawn to the area because of the setting.
“Lots of people love the valley for the camping available down there,” she explained. “But we’ve had a few reservations... and have been full a few times.”
The ice cream shop the Lehrs opened in the spring was closed following the flood.
“We were closed for about six weeks, so the staff had to get other jobs for the summer, which was understandable,” Rebne said.
The Lehrs hope to receive an appraisal from PDAP in about three weeks.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Pernell. “It’s a slow recovery process.”
With the amount of damage the valley sustained, the Lehrs are uncertain about the future of their business.
“We don’t know whether we’re going to be open next year or whether we won’t be,” said Pernell. “It’s kind of stressful, but we just try to carry on day by day.”