It was the dream, in the 1880's of W.A. Baillie-Grohman, British sportsman and financier to reclaim these fertile flats from the annual river floods. His canal at Canal flats diverted part of the Kootenay into the Columbia but was abandoned. The first successful reclamation was in 1893. Now 25,110 acres lie secure beyond 53 miles of dykes.
From BC's Stops of Interest