A parcel of land that once grew hay is now soaked with water and dotted with willow trees at the farm of John Watterson.
“Each year it’s getting worse,” said Watterson, a cattle rancher near Carberry, Man.
“Now you can’t even use it for pasture because of the water on it.”
Watterson said he is one of about a dozen landowners in his area whose property is being destroyed by too much moisture.
Some of those landowners drew attention to their dilemma this month and said the problem stems from the Midwest Food Products plant, the largest private employer at Carberry.
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They blame seepage from Midwest’s waste water lagoon for the water accumulating on their land.
They want the company, which processes potatoes into french fries, to build a water recycling plant. And they want the plant built soon.
“If they keep it up, we’re going to have to quit the cattle,” said Watterson, describing water levels that are more than a metre deep on parts of his land.
Manitoba Conservation met with Midwest Foods this month to find out whether there is seepage from the lagoon.
Bernie Chrisp, a regional director for the department, said in a March 22 interview that there was no evidence of seepage. However, he did not rule out that possibility.
“I can’t say one way or another at this point in time.”
He noted that Midwest Foods has a draft plan for a new waste water treatment plant.
Plans for the plant had not been submitted to Manitoba Conservation as of March 22.
Midwest Foods said in a March 24 statement that it hired a hydrogeological company to study ground and surface water conditions in the area.
The study found no evidence that surface water on neighbors’ property is coming from the lagoon, the company said.
Midwest ensures its operations comply with environmental standards, said the statement. Since 1997, the company has invested almost $4 million in water management projects.
Midwest said three-quarters of the water used to process potatoes is recharged to the local aquifer. The water also is used to irrigate an alfalfa crop in the summer.
The company and the Manitoba government are among those trying to find the cause of flooding on neighboring farms and to develop solutions, the statement said.
Garry Henderson, reeve of the Rural Municipality of North Cypress, thinks the landowners’ concerns are valid.
He also thinks a sewage treatment plant is the best long-term solution.
The existing lagoon was built 35 years ago and now covers 165 acres.
Henderson noted that over the years Midwest offered the use of alternative land to nearby farmers affected by soggy soils.
But those landowners now are seeing the value of their own land eroded by water problems.
The Midwest plant employs about 600 people. It also is one of the main markets for potatoes grown in Manitoba.
“That’s why it’s been treated for so many years with kid gloves,” Henderson said.
“No one wants to be responsible for the demise of the plant.”
