CALEB NICKERSON
BRYSON June 20, 2018
Two concerned Bryson residents attended the June 20 MRC meeting in Campbell’s Bay to question the council of mayors about a dammed waterway.
Pierre Graveline, a former Bryson councillor, and his neighbour Dave Bertrand laid out the issue for the council: a creek that runs behind properties on rue Covey in Bryson often swells by several feet whenever beaver dams upstream are broken up.
“The creek is a big, big problem,” Graveline said. “I’ve seen the water go a foot deep between my house and my neighbour’s house.”
Litchfield Mayor Colleen Larivière acknowledged that the issue is a long-standing one and the beaver dams in question reside in her municipality.
“To my knowledge, the dams are on private property, and when they’re on private property we, as a municipality, advise the property owner that he has to be aware and keep the beaver dams under control,” she said. “It’s his responsibility. All we can do as a municipality is advise him to do that because it is on private property.”
MRC director of territory, Régent Dugas said that he is aware of the issue, and said the responsibility is shared.

“We know this case is pretty exceptional, the beaver dams are on the mountain in Litchfield and the problem ends up in the village of Bryson,” he said. “The watercourse has been modified over time … so it’s hard for us. We’ve been often working with the municipality, sending letters to the owners in Litchfield to monitor the beaver dams and they didn’t. But that doesn’t solve the fact that the watercourse running through Bryson has been modified over time, meaning that the creek, it’s running through backyards. There are some buildings right along the creek, the water is running through culverts.”
One of those buildings is Bertrand’s residence. He said that he’s dumped plenty of soil to shore up the banks near his house and it’s all been washed away. He’s resorted to building his own retaining wall with cinder blocks, though he admits it’s a temporary solution.
An insurance representative inspected the property recently and Bertrand said that he’ll likely lose the coverage for his house.
At the meeting, Bertrand expressed his frustration with the situation and the pace at which it was being resolved.
Bryson Mayor Alain Gagnon explained that he had sought legal council on the subject, and had been told that there is a limit to the powers of the municipality when it comes to private property.