A report on the June 2010 flood that caused severe damage in and around Maple Creek, Sask. recommends dikes be built to prevent similar damage in the future.Water Resource Consultants said dikes are the only option in this case, but did not stipulate how much of the town should be surrounded.“Dikes are usually considered to be a last resort for flood protection but in this situation with much of the town in the flood plain, it is the only practical approach,” said the report, prepared for Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.The four federally operated irrigation reservoirs upstream from the town were already full when the area was hit with 100 millimetres of rain on June 17-18. The report said these structures were intended for water storage, not flood control.The structures suffered damage and one of them, Harris Reservoir, was able to divert some water through its canal system, but it wasn’t enough to stop the flood.The report also noted that the flood was estimated to have peak flow equal to one in 3,700 years and flood volume of 1 in 250 years, and even at that was not the worst that could have happened.“Analysis of the probable maximum flood (PMF) potential indicates that the 2010 flood peak was 60 percent and the volume was 12 percent of the PMF,” it said.
Report recommends dikes for Maple Creek
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