Flooding prompts state of emergency in RM of Cornwallis

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This article was published 20/07/2022 (1429 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Rural Municipality of Cornwallis has called a state of emergency to deal with flooding on Lake Clementi, located approximately 15 kilometres south of Brandon.

Last week, Jennifer Grant and Ed Murray invited the Sun to their property, which sits on the east side of the lake.

Flooding has been a concern for the couple since they bought the property seven years ago. It’s where they’d like to retire, but they say things have become much worse since 2020.

After two years of stress, they said Wednesday that Cornwallis will be opening up a hole for water to drain out of the lake without making too much impact downstream.

When the last property owners bought the land, the water was 75 feet away from the house. After the thunderstorm that hit Westman early Tuesday morning, water is now pooling right up against the home.

“Did you see those dead trees in the lake?” Grant asked, pointing to a patch of deteriorating trees poking out of the water. “We own that, but we didn’t have that when we moved here.”

Two sump pumps operate 24-7 to remove water from their crawlspace. The road to their property has to be built up frequently, or risk being washed away.

When the wind kicks up, mud is blown off the shore through their windows. Not only is their house in danger, but so is the cabin on the property where Grant’s father lives.

Grant and Murray’s theory is that after the deluge of rain that fell on Westman in late June and early July 2020, the ground around the lake has been too saturated to absorb any moisture.

The floor of their garage cracked, and while they have submitted a disaster financial assistance claim, the ground is still too wet to build on and they are unable to finish the process.

Coupled with a lack of drainage for the spring-fed lake, the water has crept ever closer to their home.

What used to be their front yard is submerged. They’ve installed ropes and pool noodles at the boundaries of where their property ends as a warning to kayakers that those areas are shallower than the centre of the lake and there is debris present that they might not want to ride over.

Until Cornwallis declared a state of emergency at its council meeting Tuesday evening, the couple said they had little success trying to convince the municipality or province to assist.

“Our council actually worked together,” Grant said. “There’s been a lot of conflict between the council, and I’m so happy that [Tuesday] night was a productive meeting for them. There was no fighting, no bickering. It was just done.”

According to them, after a recent conversation with Reeve Bill Courtice, he tried to contact the province and experienced the same thing they did: a lack of response and being transferred from department to department with no one taking ownership of the issue.

The Sun was unable to reach Courtice for comment on the issue Wednesday.

Now the RM plans to create a path for the lake to drain some of its excess water under the state of emergency. Grant and Murray are grateful that action is being taken, but they continue to wonder about the province’s failure to take the problem seriously.

“Every single department I talk to — and I worked for the federal government, I know how government works — [says] ‘Not my job, not my problem, not my responsibility,’” Grant said about trying to deal with the province.

A provincial spokesperson provided this comment to the Sun in response to the situation:

“The province (Environment, Climate and Parks) has been in contact with the owners of land and residences on Lake Clementi. This is a lake without a natural outlet at an elevation below the adjacent properties, so in wet periods it is subject to significant variation in water levels, which can be a challenge for adjacent landowners.

“Landowners can apply for authorization of drainage projects to address water level challenges like these under The Water Rights Act, and the province will work with proponents to establish a high-water level through such projects.”

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