The worst of Saskatchewan’s spring floods appear behind it, and a gradual water level decline is underway.
Water remains in many fields and levels are high on lakes and rivers, but the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority said May 16 the flooding Qu’Appelle River system was receding and the situation on the Souris River was stable.
Unless significant rainstorms occur, the water should continue to recede, said acting director of basin operations John Fahlman.
Water through the Souris system picked up last week after more than 50 millimetres of rain fell in the southeast. Low-lying land, including the coal haul road between the mine and Boundary Power Station, was flooded and some rural homeowners evacuated as a result.
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However, by May 16 Fahlman said the inflow matched the outflow on both Boundary and Rafferty reservoirs.
“The combined effect is about 150 cubic metres per second through Estevan,” he said.
That was down from the peak of 211 cubic metres per second on May 12.
Releases from the reservoirs were required because they were beyond full.
Doug Johnson, director of regional operations with SWA, said the authority will review the flood operation plan with the other partners involved. He said were it not for the two reservoirs, the water levels would have peaked earlier but flows would have been similar.
All the water in storage eventually does enter the Assiniboine River, which is flooding in Manitoba, so water held in Saskatchewan helps that province.
Both Johnson and Fahlman said the Rafferty and Alameda dams have never been tested to this extent and are performing as expected.
Water from the flooded Qu’Appelle River system goes to Manitoba as well.
Last Mountain Lake, which is the largest natural reservoir on the chain, peaked last week and is now in recession. Johnson said it takes two weeks for water from the lake to get to Manitoba.
“All of the dams are wide open in the Qu’Appelle system,” he said. “It’s almost as if it’s acting in a natural fashion. We’re not storing anything. We’re not holding back water, but we’re also not sending water at a faster rate to Manitoba.”
Upstream of Last Mountain Lake, the authority is holding back water in Buffalo Pound Lake. Manitoba did not ask Saskatchewan to hold back water but that couldn’t be done anyway, Johnson added.
“If we attempted to do something like that we would just cause more flooding on the Qu’Appelle lakes than we’ve already seen. We can’t artificially increase (water levels) and flood people who are already fighting floods.”
Meanwhile, the provincial director of emergency response, Duane McKay, said the focus is now on sustaining berms, dikes and other barriers through the recession. High winds are a major concern, as is debris on the lakes.
Boaters need to be aware that they could be putting themselves at risk, he said, with debris ranging from power poles to propane tanks to paint cans.
Seventy-three communities have been designated eligible for provincial disaster assistance and McKay expected another 30 or 40 would be added within the week.
