BRANDON — Farmers are furious that three years after the last catastrophic Assiniboine River flood, Manitoba flood forecasters still seem to have a poor understanding of how much water is flowing through the system.
“The people in Winnipeg don’t know. Couldn’t figure it out,” said Stan Cochrane, who farms downstream of the Shellmouth Dam, referring to wildly varying water level predictions issued by the provincial government.
Farmers at the Keystone Agricultural Producers general council meeting July 10, where Cochrane made his comments, were alarmed by the perception that farmland is no better protected and farmers are no better prepared than in 2011, when the Qu’Appelle and Assiniboine rivers surged and flooded tens of thousands of acres.
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“This can’t happen again,” said George Grant, who farms near the flooded village of St. Lazare near the Saskatchewan border.
“Lives are at stake here. People have to know that water is coming.”Grant said that people upstream on the Qu’Appelle knew that the water was rising and overflowing, but people downstream weren’t informed until it was a crisis.
During the 2011 flood, Manitoba government flood predictions and response changed day to day, creating a perception among many that the Assiniboine situation was little understood.
Grant, a member of the Shellmouth Dam committee, which works with water officials to prepare for water flows, said that dam officials told the committee it expected a drought this year, and in the spring slashed the outflow rate of the dam so that it could hold back water.
“Two weeks later the water was going over the spillway. Dam was full. The dam was out of control,” said Cochrane.
“Don’t be surprised when the rules change every day, because they haven’t got a clue.”
