Farmers with pastures near Lake Manitoba will have to move 100,000 cattle to higher ground because water levels are rising higher than expected.
The Manitoba government is diverting millions of litres of water out of the flooding Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba, which is expected to flood summer pastures near the lake for two months this spring and summer.
“I would think there could be as many as 100,000 (cattle that must be evacuated), when you consider that most cows have a calf under them right now,” said Tim Clarke, a Manitoba Agriculture range and pasture specialist in Ashern, Man.
Cattle will have to be moved either to other parts of Manitoba or to Saskatchewan or Alberta.
On May 9, the provincial government informed producers in Vogar, Man., near the Lake Manitoba Narrows, that they should move cattle over the next couple of weeks because the lake is expected to crest at more than a foot higher than predicted.
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_____ Help for Manitoba beef cattle producers _____
This is a message to ALL BEEF CATTLE PRODUCERS affected by the impending flooding crisis from Manitoba Beef Producers: If you are a producer facing evacuation or other related emergency and in need of assistance, please call our office or visit our website to find out your necessary steps of action and how MBP can assist you further or direct you to the right resources. Your first course of action is to contact your RM. Second to contact your MAFRI or local Go Centre and third to contact DFA to fill out assistance forms immediately. Please call MBP if you are in need of available pasture land or cattle boarding and the number of head that require evacuation. A reminder to all producers to also please ensure that you thoroughly document all activity and details of your situation. This is also an urgent call out to all producers, grain farmers, neighbours, crown lands leases – if you have land available and are willing and able to take in cattle on either a short or long term basis, please call the MBP office immediately. MBP is also looking for names of any volunteers that have experience working cattle. Please call our office if you are able to volunteer! MBP Office # is 204-772-4542 / Toll free 800-772-0458 or go to our home page at www.mbbeef.ca |
“It depends a lot on the weather, but the lake is probably going to peak around the first part of June,” Clarke said. “The water is going to come up and it’s going to stay up for a month, or a month and a half. Maybe two months, depending on how things go.”
High flows of water in the Assiniboine River over the last six weeks have forced provincial officials to run the Portage Diversion near or at its full capacity of 25,000 cubic feet per second.
However, the Fairford River Dam, the main outlet of Lake Manitoba, has a capacity of 10,000 cubic feet per second, which is why water levels in Lake Manitoba are rising daily.
“One guy said he figures it’s coming up an inch and a half every day,” Clarke said.
“That’s a pretty big lake. (There must be) tremendous inflows for it to come up (that much).”
