Almost $20M in repairs slated for Oak Lake Dam

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This article was published 10/07/2025 (261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government and Ottawa are spending almost $20 million to repair the aging Oak Lake Dam.

The dam has been in need of repair for the last 20 years, according to the municipality’s reeve.

In total, the province is contributing just under $17 million, while the federal government is putting in $2.75 million, a provincial spokesperson told the Sun Thursday. The total investment is worth $19.7 million.

“That’s huge,” said Rural Municipality of Sifton Reeve Cyril Druwe. “That’s one thing off our demands for the government, so it’s great.”

The repairs will include reconstruction of the dam spillway and repairs to portions of the east embankment, while additional rock will be added to widen most of the west embankment to create more stable slopes.

Work will start this fall, with no set end date.

Druwe said the 61-year-old dam provides people with the opportunity to go swimming, boating and fishing.

“It’s important for the RM, you know, the more activity, the better it is for ratepayers and our RM and anybody else,” Druwe said.

In a news release, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said the reconstruction of the dam will allow it to “remain safely operational” for the next 50 years.

“The Oak Lake Dam is a cornerstone of local safety, economic stability, environmental stewardship and climate resilience,” said Naylor. “That’s why its rehabilitation is both necessary and timely.”

Naylor wasn’t available for an interview Wednesday or Thursday, but a spokesperson said the funding is necessary because of how time impacts the dam.

“The dam is in need of repairs due to deterioration of the spillway structure over time, annual wind and wave erosion, and the effects of high-water events and significant floods such at the 2011 flood event,” the spokesperson wrote.

An access road to the dam was upgraded last fall in preparation for the repairs, and the tender for the project is expected to go out later this year, the news release said.

The dam was originally built in 1964 to “control spring runoff waters flooding into the lake, and to store it for seasons of low flow and improve the area’s recreational potential,” the Sun reported in August of that year.

Then-premier Duff Roblin opened the dam by exploding 12 pounds of dynamite so water could reach the barrier.

Druwe said the dam has served the area well ever since he can remember. But, he added, he’s been on council for about 27 years, and the RM started pleading for repairs only a couple of years into his time there.

“We’ve been advocating to get something done with this dam for quite a few years,” he said. “But the governments have lots of infrastructure to maintain and take care of and stuff like that, we realize that. (Our dam) wasn’t actually totally broken.”

» alambert@brandonsun.com