The Saskatchewan and federal governments have signed an agreement to make sure they discuss and agree on future action required because of flooding to fish habitat.
The formal protocol agreement stemmed from the 2010 flooding that caused saline water to flow from Houghton Lake into Lenore Lake.
Saskatchewan launched legal action in both federal court and the Court of Queen’s Bench after Environment Canada ordered the flow from Houghton Lake stopped. The federal department of fisheries and oceans said the saline water was impacting fish and fish habitat. The province argued otherwise.
The province did close a culvert where the water was flowing, causing the water to back up and flood farmland. It ended up buying farmland that was damaged and is now unproductive because of the saline water.
Environment Canada will pay $4 million toward this cost.
As a result of the agreement, the two legal challenges have been settled.
