The federal government is sending Canadian soldiers to build up dikes along the Assiniboine River in Manitoba.
Prime minister Stephen Harper authorized members of the Canadian Armed Forces to assist with the flood fight in Manitoba following a May 8 conversation with premier Greg Selinger.
“The City of Brandon, Man., declared a state of emergency today, as water levels on the Assiniboine River continue to rise,” Harper said in a statement.
“Our troops will work with local officials there and in other impacted areas of the province to assist Manitobans in need and evacuate those in harm’s way.”
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Water levels and volumes are expected to increase this week on the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Headingley, Man., and the military manpower is needed to maintain and increase the height of dikes along the river, Manitoba Water Stewardship said in its May 8 flood bulletin.
The melt from a late April snowstorm, which dumped 25 to 50 centimetres of snow on western Manitoba, combined with 25 to 50 millimetres of rain that is expected this week, forced Manitoba Water Stewardship forecasters to revise their flood outlook for the Assiniboine.
The already high water levels in the Assiniboine between Portage and Headingley could increase by another 15 to 25 cm later this week, forecasters noted in a statement.
Manitoba Water Stewardship expects flows in the Assiniboine River at the Portage Diversion to reach 50,000 cubic feet per second by May 10-12. As of May 8, flows at the same location were 38,000 cubic feet per second.
The provincial government prepared for expected flooding this spring by using more than 230 pieces of equipment to reinforce 70 kilo-metres of earthen dikes between Portage and Headingley.
Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation spent several weeks in March raising the dikes to the level of the 1976 Assiniboine flood, plus 60 centimetres.
However, ice jams and a month of high water flows have weakened sections of the dike, so Canadian soldiers are needed to strengthen and raise the level of the dikes with sandbags in low-lying areas.
“Approximately 2.7 million sandbags from the provincial stock and from the City of Winnipeg stock will be deployed,” the provincial government said in its May 8 flood bulletin.
Anne Burns, chief administrative officer for the Rural Municipality of Cartier, said it wasn’t a big surprise that soldiers will be sandbagging in her RM and the neighbouring municipalities of St. Francois Xavier and Headingley.
“I’ve seen the water, so I guess I’m not (completely) surprised,” she said.
“Our concern right now is the residents (who live along the river). We’re (also) very concerned about the farmland because it’s a huge part of our community.”
Government employees and volunteers are building up earthen and sandbag dikes in Brandon to protect residences, roads and infrastructure from the rising river. Hundreds of acres of farm fields in the Assiniboine River Valley west of the city are under water, including plots at Agriculture Canada’s research centre.
“The water has come up higher than we anticipated and it is fairly close to the building,” said Katherine Buckley, acting research manager at the centre.
“But we have more than a metre of freeboard before our lowest building is in danger.”
However, farmland at the centre that is located at lower elevations closer to the river is swamped by flood waters.
“That’s all been inundated and we know that the water won’t recede in time to do anything with that land,” Buckley said.
As a result, the centre’s barley breeding program will be moved to another location.
“We knew this might be the case… so we did (rent) suitable land…. Now it’s certain we’ll be seeding the barley plots off the research centre.”
Buckley said pasture and silage land is also under water, forcing the centre to make alternative plans to procure feed for livestock in its beef research program.
