Channel must drain lake, residents say

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2012 (5102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The only way to rebuild around Lake Manitoba following last year’s devastating flood is to build a new channel to drain it into nearby Lake St. Martin, RM of Coldwell Reeve Brian Sigfusson says.

“People are not going to be happy with buyouts because that’s not a long-term fix,” Sigfusson said. “It won’t solve the problem. It’s just putting a Band-Aid on it.”

Sigfusson said to get people confident in rebuilding homes, cottages and farms around the lake, the province has to commit to building a new channel from Watchorn Bay on Lake Manitoba to Lake St. Martin to drain the lake more quickly of flood waters when the province activates the Portage Diversion.

“Without the drain, there’s really no future,” he said. “Buyouts are no future for us.”

The province launched the Lake Manitoba Regulation Review Committee in February to examine water levels on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin. Its recommendations are to be submitted this year.

Others on Lake Manitoba say a new channel is the only way to save Lake Manitoba. Lake St. Martin now drains into Lake Winnipeg after the province cut an emergency channel after last year’s flood.

“I don’t care where they put it. Just put it somewhere to give people confidence to come back,” Langruth resident Dee Dee Anderson said.

Until the flood, Anderson and her husband, Darrel, operated the thriving Big Point Retreat, but the water claimed all but 17 of 90 cottages. The wreckage still has to be cleaned up.

Anderson said the biggest issue for her is how the province will help residents restore the lake to pre-flood conditions. She said she has a contractor lined up to repair a flooded-out access road to start that process, but the province has yet to say whether the government will pay for it.

“The thing is we have no income,” she said. “And we can’t seem to get any assurances we’ll be paid.”

Cheryl Smith, president of the Association of Lake Manitoba Stakeholders (ALMS), which represents those who were flooded out, said the province has to do a better job of communicating what compensation programs are available.

“It’s almost like they’re learning as they go,” the still-evacuated Sandpiper Beach resident said.

Many residents are still waiting to find out how they’ll be compensated for their losses, she added, and they may launch a class-action suit against the province. The province has paid out almost $575 million for flood damages and has received close to 30,000 applications for compensation.

ALMS is to meet with government officials shortly in an effort to iron out some of the problems.

Langruth alfalfa farmer Jonas Johnson said he faces a second year of being unable to use his land. Almost all of the 1,350 acres he farmed are ruined because of flooding.

“We’ve all spent our lives contributing to the economy of Manitoba and now we just sit here wondering what will happen to us,” said Johnson, 65. “I don’t feel like being a 70-year-old farmer trying to get the land back to what it was.”

A provincial spokesman said because this year is so much drier, pastures that were inaccessible last year may be accessible this year, and the province will work with producers to restore forage fields. Producers can also purchase AgriInsurance and have access to a variety of AgriStability programs.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca