Backed by a court injunction, Sask Water last week was studying three runways in the Rural Municipality of Churchbridge, Sask., which carry water east toward Manitoba.
The runways, which Sask Water said were deepened without provincial consent, were the centres of debate this winter.
Several farmers on the Saskatchewan side of the border wanted the runways left, because they are intended to improve drainage in their area. But there were concerns downstream about how much water would come from those drains, especially in wet years.
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Sask Water now is looking at the height and number of blocks to be put in the runways. The court injunction, granted in March by the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina, forbids interference with that effort.
Bryan Ireland, Sask Water’s director of regional operations, said the RM of Churchbridge now is participating in the review of the runways and he’s hopeful the issue can be resolved amicably.
“The injunction was granted to us but we haven’t used that,” he said. “We haven’t needed to.”
Ireland said the RM of Churchbridge had dug the three runways lower at the request of farmers. The blocks are being put in place until the possible effects of increasing the drainage are better known.
The runways, located in the Langenburg, Sask., area, fall within the Assiniboine River basin and help drain an area punctuated with sloughs and potholes.
“We believe that until the impacts are better understood, the lowering of those sloughs should be prevented,” Ireland said.
He noted that Sask Water does not object to farmers removing beaver dams unless that effort creates drains lower than “what nature provided.”
Manitoba Conservation was concerned about increased runoff and the potential for more sedimentation in streams that feed into the Assiniboine. But Larry Whitney, Manitoba’s deputy director of water resources, said they are encouraged by Sask Water’s latest efforts.
