Drainage solution sought Ottawa says the Manitoba government’s claim that federal regulations are causing the delay are preposterous
OAKLAND, Man. — It was hard not to think of the Nile, Amazon or one of the world’s other great rivers as water rushed under a bridge four kilo-metres south of Lake Manitoba.
In mid-July, 35,000 cubic feet per second of water was flowing through the Portage Diversion, which transports water from the Assiniboine River near Portage la Prairie, Man., to Lake Manitoba.
Water in the drainage channel stretched at least 500 metres from bank to bank as excavators and other heavy equipment moved earth to stabilize the diversion and contain the powerful flow.
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The water was nearly at the top of the banks and would have flowed onto fields on the east and west sides of the channel if it had been only a few centimetres higher. Water did spill over the banks and flood farmland at other locations along the diversion channel.
About 150 farmers, cottage owners and municipal representatives from around Lake Manitoba met July 15 at a farm adjacent to the drainage channel two km north of the bridge to express their frustrations over the massive amount of water entering the lake.
Lake Manitoba rose to record heights in 2011, flooding pastures, hayland and cottage property on its shores.
Landowners said at the time and still maintain that 2011 was an artificial and deliberate flood because the province diverted excess water from the Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba to protect property east of Portage la Prairie.
Lake Manitoba farmers are now worried about a repeat of 2011, following 150 to 200 millimetres of rain in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba in late June.
Kam Blight, reeve of the Rural Municipality of Portage La Prairie, told the meeting that landowners around the lake are tired of being a dumping ground for western Canadian water.
“Right now, Saskatchewan, I promise you this, is scurrying to get as much drainage as they possibly can done because they don’t want a repeat of the flood that just happened,” he said.
“That means all that water (will be) coming this way. If the federal government and the province can’t step in and get something happening with Saskatchewan, then they better invest a pile of money in this area to make damn sure that everyone here is protected and can enjoy a proper livelihood…. We cannot be sitting ducks here, waiting for this to happen all over again.”
In an interview following his presentation, Blight said drainage in Saskatchewan is only a piece of the story.
“They’re not the only problem, by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.
“But with their water coming to us so much faster and with such high volumes, we have a hard time managing our own and then all of sudden their (water) is on top of us…. All of that water funnels right to this area.”
The Manitoba government has promised to build a drainage channel at the north end of Lake Manitoba to move excess water into Lake Winnipeg, and this spring the province introduced a comprehensive water management strategy.
“That’s all talk, though. There’s been no action,” Blight said as other speakers at the meeting took their turn at the microphone.
“Yes, there is a new flood mitigation strategy in place, but we need buy-in from people, and that’s going to take a while. And we also need buy-in from our neighbours to the west.”
Steve Ashton, Manitoba’s infrastructure and transportation minister, said it could take up to seven years to build the new drainage channel at the north end of the lake.
Farmers at the meeting near Portage said a seven-year timeline is unacceptable.
“We need flood mitigation, flood solutions from Lake Manitoba immediately. Not seven years, not three, not two, now,” said Tom Teichroeb, a rancher from Langruth, Man., and chair of the Lake Manitoba Flood Rehabilitation Committee.
Teichroeb said the province should declare a state of emergency regarding rising lake levels, which would empower the government to begin digging the Lake Manitoba-Lake Winnipeg channel immediately.
During his presentation, Teichroeb read an email from Robert Sopuck, MP for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, to clarify the federal government’s position on the drainage channel.
In the email, Sopuck said federal regulations are not responsible for the seven-year construction timeline because he helped revise the Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Navigable Water Protections Act to make the regulations less cumbersome.
“The government of Manitoba has made the preposterous statement that the new outlet cannot be built for seven years due to the regulatory process, amongst other things,” Sopuck said.
“If they are referring to the federal process, that is complete nonsense…. For the (Manitoba) government to suggest this is a blatant and I would say deliberate misinterpretation of the situation.”
Blight said he doesn’t know how long it takes to build a channel between Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, but the province needs to act now.
“They should start turning soil immediately,” he said. “If there’s no sense of urgency because of this event right now, I don’t know what will bring a sense of urgency.”
