The Manitoba government passed legislation Aug. 17 that gives it authority to regulate drainage in the province.
The legislation follows a Manitoba Court of Appeal ruling earlier this year that said jurisdiction over drainage belongs to municipalities.
The latest move by the province disappointed Ninga, Man., farmer Ray Hildebrandt.
“I think this is just an excuse to perpetuate a bureaucracy that is costing us money,” he said. “I don’t see where it will be something positive for the farming community.”
Hildebrandt fought a lengthy court battle with the province over the issue of whether the province or municipalities have authority over drainage.
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The court battle began after provincial natural resources staff charged him with illegally draining water from farmland near Ninga.
Hildebrandt’s case went through provincial court and the Court of Queen’s Bench before it ended in the Court of Appeal with Hildebrandt being cleared of wrongdoing.
At that time, the Court of Appeal ruled that drainage is a municipal jurisdiction.
“To me it looks like they’re grabbing power,” Hildebrandt said of the new legislation.
“I’m not sure for whose sake. The province’s sake, I guess.”
Hildebrandt said he hopes the province will accept the responsibility that comes with its authority over drainage.
He thinks a systematic program is needed in western Manitoba to better manage drainage in the region. Watershed districts might be one approach, he said.
“I hope that something positive will come from all of this, but I’m skeptical.”
Not everyone is disappointed that jurisdiction over drainage now resides with the province.
Keystone Agricultural Producers supports the latest move, although that support comes with a proviso.
Outline districts
KAP wants watershed districts established to help with drainage planning, said KAP president Don Dewar. The province would have a role in approving plans prepared by those districts. Such an approach would offer a broader snapshot when the impacts of drainage proposals are assessed.
“It’s not just drainage – it’s management,” Dewar said.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities has a long-held position that the province should have jurisdiction over drainage.
However, the AMM suggested last week that the province should go a step further by passing legislation that allows it to delegate responsibility over drainage to conservation districts or drainage boards.
The flow of water does not stop at municipal boundaries, Mauws said when explaining why the AMM did not endorse giving sole jurisdiction to municipalities.
Now that it has jurisdiction over drainage, the Manitoba government has a more immediate challenge to face.
In the past, the province lacked the staff needed to keep pace with drainage permit applications. The staffing shortfall led to a backlog of applications and stirred frustration among landowners wanting to drain property.
Dewar said the province has told KAP that more employees will be assigned to process permit applications.
