WINNIPEG – Flooding in the Assiniboine River Valley either proves the need for the Langenburg East Drainage Project or shows why the project shouldn’t happen, depending what side of the fence people are on.
The plan would channel water from eastern Saskatchewan into the Assiniboine system in Manitoba, improving land quality in what many refer to as pothole country. But opponents say it will cause flooding downstream.
David Zerr of Langenburg said the floods are good for his cause. He’s involved with a group that wants to get approval to build the controversial drainage project. “I think that the same photographs of damage that (the project’s opponents) show … speak to the fact that we need controls in certain places and things have to be done in an organized matter.”
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Zerr added if the project is implemented, “we’re offering to pay compensation if our water does do damage.”
Wayne Dybvig, vice-president of water management for Sask Water Corporation, said his province’s runoff into the Assiniboine tends to end before water behind the Shellmouth Dam is released into the river.
He said the Prairie Provinces Water Board has investigated Sask-atchewan drainage projects and concluded from hydrology studies that peak flows from the Langenburg project would “occur early enough that they would not contribute to the peak flow coming off the Assiniboine.”
Water level measured
Dybvig said Sask Water measured flows this year on the Smith Creek drainage project to confirm those results.
He added the sooner runoff gets out of the water system, the better it is for farmers downstream.
“It’s possible that had the main channels been in place this year, that the runoff and the water that would be in the Langenburg East project would have drained even faster and would have gotten away faster than this year,” he said.
Rick Bowering of Manitoba’s natural resources department has some concerns about the project, which is to have an environmental assessment before it goes ahead.
“To the locals, it’s as clear as the nose on their face: Extra drainage in there is going to bring extra water from the Langenburg area and is going to cause them some damage,” Bowering said.
He said his department has looked at Prairie Provinces Water Board data and run it through models of the Assiniboine River. “We found a couple of occasions where it could aggravate the situation, and in fact we’re still studying it and still working on it.”
