Maple Creek and other communities have been approved for assistance under Saskatchewan’s emergency flood damage reduction program.
Maple Creek suffered extensive flooding last June following a severe rainstorm.
A consultant’s report released in February recommended building dikes along the town’s west side to prevent future problems.
Mayor Barry Rudd said the project is still being finalized and he hopes more details will be available for a public information session March 8.
In addition to dikes, the plan will likely also include cleaning out creek beds and culverts, he added.
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Although time is running short, Rudd said he thinks the community will be fine with a slow snow melt.
It also has a plan B if the dike project can’t be completed.
“We’ll use big round or square hay bales,” he said. “A lot of communities use them and they actually work better than sandbags because they don’t leak. They absorb the water and hold it.”
Bales that aren’t needed for flood control could be sold, he added.
“This isn’t going to happen again,” Rudd said.
Less than a week after the program was announced, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority said 70 communities, seven RMs and 25 individual farmsteads had already been approved for assistance. More are expected to be approved daily.
Thirteen engineering firms are working with the authority to determine what action is necessary to alleviate flood risk.
The cost of the Maple Creek project is not yet known but Clinton Molde of the SWA said 100 percent of the engineering design and 75 percent of construction costs will be covered.
Those arrangements are part of the $22 million program to help communities and rural residents protect their property from future floods.
Rural yard sites and residences are eligible to receive 85 percent of the cost to protect them and the full cost of technical assistance.
“We’ll also provide 100 percent of the cost to test private potable water supplies that may be impacted by flooding to make sure that people still have access to safe drinking water,” said Dustin Duncan, the provincial cabinet minister responsible for the watershed authority.
The program also includes a short-term component, such as paying half the cost of sand bagging and clearing channels and frozen culverts.
Farmland protection is not included in this program.
Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities president David Marit said several hundred farmyards and rural residences are at risk this spring.
Forecasts suggest flooding will be widespread and the watershed authority is contacting communities that are expected to be most at risk.
Duncan said the amount of money allocated to the program was determined by considering the number of communities that face excess moisture.
“It should be adequate to cover the provincial government’s portion,” he said of the $22 million allocation. “Certainly it’s our intention to use this program to get us through this spring and 2011.”
However, he also said the program has emergency and long-term components.
The watershed authority will consider funding higher total project costs if certain control structures address long-term needs.
Meanwhile, the public safety ministry is holding meetings with municipal officials to plan for flood risks and ensure effective response.
The ministry will stockpile rapid response equipment and make it available to communities.
