Federal and Manitoba governments promise channels to ease flooding near reserve

By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG – The federal and Manitoba governments have promised $495 million for two channels to ease flooding near communities such as Lake St. Martin, a reserve that has been flooded out for four years.

The money will pay for two outlets that will drain high water levels on Lake St. Martin and Lake Manitoba. The province constructed a temporary emergency channel on Lake St. Martin after a flood in 2011 forced thousands — primarily from the Lake St. Martin First Nation — from their homes.

The province has already begun work on making that channel permanent and is planning a new channel on Lake Manitoba. But having the federal government commit to covering one-third of the projected cost is a big boost, Premier Greg Selinger said Friday.

“It gives even greater certainty that the project will be completed and will provide … long-term security.”

Selinger hopes the projects might be completed within six years. There is design work to be done and detailed routes to be picked. There must also be consultation with area residents, some of whom are worried about the project’s impact on the fishing industry and spawning areas.

A recommendation from engineers on the location for the new outlet is expected this fall.

The 2011 flood left the Lake St. Martin First Nation uninhabitable. Residents were relocated. Many spent years in hotels and other accommodations. The community is being rebuilt on higher ground.

Selinger said the outlets will help give the region protection against the kind of major flood that occurs once every 200 years.

“The channels are a game-changer, but many homeowners and cottagers have already built individual flood protection and … many of the communities have already built dikes.”

Manitoba faces some form of river flooding almost every spring, as water rushes in from as far away as Alberta and South Dakota. The province has an elaborate system of dikes, ditches and dams aimed at controlling river levels and keeping water away from communities as it works its way toward Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay.

The government faced controversy in 2011 for enlarging the Portage Diversion, which drains excess water from the Assiniboine River and directs it to Lake Manitoba and downstream into Lake St. Martin. The lakes were already high, and area residents said the enlarged diversion added to their woes.

The new outlets are aimed at ensuring Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin can be drained more quickly into Lake Winnipeg.

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