Province unveils plans for Rivers dam

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This article was published 29/03/2022 (1446 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIVERS — Two years after a colossal rainstorm that imperiled the dam at Lake Wahtopanah, the structure will finally be rehabilitated starting this year.

With the lake and the dam in Rivers as a backdrop, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk said the contract for the design of the reconstructed dam has been awarded to KGS Group Limited, a Winnipeg-based engineering firm.

Construction could start as early as this fall and is expected to take up to three years to complete.

“In early July 2020, heavy rainfall caused record rainfall in the Little Saskatchewan River, which affected the dam here in Rivers, Manitoba,” Piwniuk said.

So much rain fell on Westman that water was flowing through the dam at a rate of 12,000 cubic feet per second, more than double the previously measured peak outflow of 4,500 cubic feet per second.

That water flow exceeded the dam’s capacity, causing concern for communities both in the immediate vicinity and further downstream, like in Brandon which could have experienced a surge of water had the structure failed.

The City of Brandon erected a temporary dike plug along 18th Street North, blocking off Grand Valley Road, and some nearby residents were evacuated, but the dam built in 1960 managed to hang on with minimal damage.

According to Piwniuk, this effort will bring the 62-year-old structure up to current provincial and national standards and is part of a government initiative to prepare infrastructure for the effects of climate change.

Last year, Piwniuk said, a preliminary design for the rehabilitation was completed with input from local municipalities and stakeholders. Interim fixes to the spillway were completed in winter 2021 and the structure performed well in the subsequent spring runoff.

With the province having downgraded the severity of its flood outlook for this spring late last week, Piwniuk said current conditions are ideal for the dam at Lake Wahtopanah to successfully handle snowmelt and runoff.

“We’re very confident that the outlook for the Souris and Assiniboine [rivers] are going to be very low when it comes to any flooding,” he said. “It all depends on whether there’s a weather event, that’s what we’re looking out for.”

No price tag for the project was revealed, and KGS is still choosing between several options for the project.

Also in attendance were Spruce Woods MLA and Economic Development Minister Cliff Cullen, whose constituency includes the dam, as well as Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke, Riding Mountain MLA Greg Nesbitt and Brandon East MLA Len Isleifson.

Cullen gave credit to the Municipality of Riverdale for its hard work in keeping people safe during the flood event.

After describing what the dam looked like on her last visit in 2020 and explaining its importance to the area, Clarke went over efforts to work with nearby municipalities and stakeholders to meet their needs during the reconstruction process.

When the province released its updated flood outlook last week, the accompanying media release said the government was working with municipalities to update its emergency plans.

“We have to understand that [these kinds of events] can happen at any time,” she said. “Climate is changing in Manitoba and we are seeing those changes.”

The Emergency Measures Organization is “prepared 365 days a year,” she added.

“At this time of year, when we could expect possible flood events, they want to make sure everything’s upgraded.”

While Riverdale Mayor Todd Gill was unable to attend the event, Coun. Ian Dyer was on hand to explain the importance of the project to the community.

“It’s a little over 60 years old and it withstood a real blow in 2020,” he said. “Hopefully, the repairs … over the next three years will last the next thousand years before the next big main event.”

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