NDP pledges $95K for Oak Lake aeration system
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2025 (184 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OAK LAKE — Walleye stocks in Oak Lake will have a brighter future after an aeration system is installed on the lakebed.
Premier Wab Kinew visited Oak Lake on Friday morning to announce the province would put up $95,000 for an oxygenating system in the lake. The equipment is expected to clean the water and prolong the lifespan of fish.
“This project is a big deal,” said the watershed’s general manager, Dean Brooker. “Anybody that lives here or comes here in the summer, we know sometimes the water quality is poor, so the aeration system will also help.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announces a $95,000 grant at Oak Lake Provincial Park on Friday. The funding will help install an aeration system on the lakebed in order to improve water quality. With him for the announcement are Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard (right) and Scott Phillips, vice-president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun)
The money was granted to help the Souris River Watershed District install a pump station on the shoreline of Oak Lake Provincial Park in the coming months, as well as a 3,000-foot underwater pipe and a set of bubblers that will release oxygen into the water.
Kinew described it as an investment.
“This is going to help make sure that the water stays beautiful — to ensure that Oak Lake stays pristine and wonderful for generations to come,” he said.
When the oxygen level drops too low in local lakes, walleye are the first to go, Brooker told the Sun. The project will help prevent that by putting oxygen in the water and preventing other processes that consume oxygen, like algal blooms.
Fish die-offs have been addressed by an aeration system at Pelican Lake, RM of Prairie Lakes Reeve Darren Seymour told the Sun. The municipality installed an aeration system roughly 10 years ago. Since then, he said, that problem has been greatly reduced.
Historically the municipality had to drive a loader along the shorelines of Pelican Lake from time to time to scoop dead fish after die-offs. Seymour said the system took about a year or two to kick in.
Brooker did not say there were similar die-offs at Oak Lake, but expects the same improvement in the health of walleye. A crowd of 100 locals gathered at the park for the announcement.
Scott Phillips, vice-president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, and Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard also spoke at Friday’s event.
“This is where my kids learned how to fish,” Simard, MLA for Brandon East, said. “It’s just great to see these investments coming back to Westman.”
Dozens of people are seen at Oak Lake Provincial Park on Friday morning after the premier announced a $95,000 grant to improve the quality of the lake water. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun)
Simard told the Sun that amenities like the lake are important for the community. He added he brought his two sons to the park for camping, fishing and golfing some years ago, when they were around seven years old, and said a lot of people are rediscovering the lake.
“I think that anything that increases the water quality here will go a long way.”
Sustainability is the major focus, Brooker told the Sun. He said the watershed may also apply for money to install a second aeration system at Cherry Point, a separate area of the lake.
“Quite excited about it,” he said.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com