For Lilli Schneider, the solution to the flood problems around Lake Manitoba is straightforward — the amount of water that flows out of the lake should equal the flow into the lake.
Schneider, who resides in Twin Lakes, Man., was one of about 120 cottage owners, farmers and fishermen who attended a rally at the Manitoba legislature today, to protest the government’s policy of diverting water from the Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba.
In 2011, hundreds of properties and thousands of acres of hay and pasture land around Lake Manitoba were flooded when the province diverted billions of litres of water through the Portage Diversion, which moves water from the Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba.
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The province diverted water out of the Assiniboine for more than a month in 2011, to prevent flooding downstream of Portage la Prairie. The inflows pushed water levels in Lake Manitoba to 1.6 metres (five feet) above the normal operating range, inundating low lying land around the lake.
Schneider, whose cottage at Twin Lakes was flooded in 2011, wants the province to complete a drainage channel at the north end of the lake, which would move water from Lake Manitoba into Lake St. Martin and eventually Lake Winnipeg.
Even though her home is now 25 metres from the lake, if the outflow channel isn’t constructed, Schneider fears her residence will be sacrificed again in future floods.
The province compensated farmers for lost income in 2011. Yet, two years after the flood, farmers around the lake are still frustrated because they expected multi-year compensation and thought the province would build a drain channel at the north end of Lake Manitoba.
“There are two reasons why we are here. Flood mitigation and compensation,” said Tom Teichroeb, a cattle rancher from Langruth, Man., who spoke at the May 7 rally in Winnipeg. “Mr. Struthers (Manitoba finance minister) promised in 2011… a multi-year, comprehensive compensation package.”
After failing to garner the attention of the provincial or federal governments, on April 29 a group of landowners known as the Lake Manitoba Flood Rehabilitation Committee, parked tractors in the channel that takes water from the Portage Diversion to Lake Manitoba.
Subsequently, the province subpoenaed two farmers, Joe Johnson and Kevin Yuill, to appear in a Winnipeg court May 7 as part of a legal injunction to keep protesters out of the diversion channel.
Yuill told CBC News May 6 that the province dropped its court action, because his group promised not to block the channel until July. Nonetheless, Yuill and other affected landowners held a rally May 7 at the legislature.
“The people here today are not going away,” Teichroeb said. “We will not take no for an answer.”
A representative of Manitoba’s NDP government didn’t speak at the rally. However, Brian Pallister, provincial opposition leader, said the province’s legal response to the April 29 protest was ridiculous.
“They’re blaming you. They’re saying you’re criminals. They’re claiming that you’re the problem when they’re the problem.”
According to a Lake Manitoba Flood Rehabilitation Committee spokesperson, the province has agreed to meet with representatives of the group.
