Water level lower, but threat remains

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This article was published 03/07/2020 (2065 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The water level at the besieged Rivers dam has dropped slightly, but the provincial government still doesn’t have confidence in the 60-year-old structure.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler provided an update on the flood situation in Westman on Thursday afternoon. According to him, the water level at Lake Wahtopanah has reached a record high after an unprecedented amount of rainfall from Sunday through Tuesday.

Asked what would happen to Brandon if the Rivers dam were to burst, Schuler said it is unlikely that would occur.

“At this moment, we do not view there being any significant issue,” he said.

“It’s not that we feel the structure is going to collapse imminently. Hardly. It’s just that we don’t have confidence in the structure as it stands and out of an abundance of caution we are suggesting that people evacuate.”

The new record water level at Lake Wahtopanah exceeds the previous record set in 2011 during another flood situation by 4.3 feet.

Currently, 80 people have been evacuated in Rivers and three have been evacuated in Neepawa in the case that the dam bursts. Schuler said he believed that evacuees’ livestock had been moved as well.

In order to determine when it will be safe to return evacuees to their homes, the government will have to wait until the water level recedes far enough for the dam’s apron to be exposed so that engineers can check for damage.

“This is a 60-year old structure and it was never engineered to take the kind of water event we have coming at us,” Schuler said, adding the dam was last inspected last month and was determined to be in good shape to withstand the amount of water it was built to hold.

Eleven emergency response trailers carrying equipment to help combat flooding have been dispatched by the government to Westman.

“The dam in Rivers is experiencing a flood of historic proportions that is equivalent to a one-in-1,000-year flood event,” Schuler said. “The water level at the dam in Rivers is at its highest level ever since its inception. Thankfully, it has started to drop slightly, but only by .83 feet as of this morning.”

He said an engineer is observing the spillway of the dam at all times. Some minor seepage has been spotted around the spillway, but the colour is clear, which indicates that the dam is not deteriorating at this time.

The government is worried that water exiting the dam via the spillway will eventually build up to the point where it will start flowing backward. To prevent that from happening, rocks are being dropped on either side of the spillway, which is supposed to help.

Approximately 12,000 cubic feet per second of water is passing through the spillway. The water level at the dam is expected to remain around that level for three to four days. In 2011, 5,000 cubic feet per second of water was flowing through the spillway.

The Portage Diversion, a 29-kilometre channel near Portage la Prairie that can divert water from the Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba to prevent flooding downriver, has been engaged to protect communities like Winnipeg. This will limit the flow of water further downriver to 10,000 cubic feet per second.

Lake Manitoba is right in the middle of its safe operating level at 811.5 feet.

Though weather forecasts are currently predicting more rain to come tonight, Schuler said the province is not expecting it to be significant.

In Brandon, the Assiniboine River is expected to have its water level peak in the next four to seven days. Between Monday morning and Thursday at noon, the water level of the river measured at First Street had risen slightly less than 10 feet to 1,174.51 feet above sea level. The city’s earthen dike system is at a height of 1,186 feet above sea level.

“It seems like the response, especially from local leadership, is very strong so far, so we’re just here to support and try and see what the needs are,” said NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who stopped at Brandon City Hall to meet with Mayor Rick Chrest during a visit to the flood-ravaged region Thursday afternoon.

The flood-infrastructure investments made in Brandon in 2011 “seem to have been a wise move at the time, and I think this current experience just shows that we need to keep making those investments,” Kinew said.

“Certainly, it looks like that’s helping Brandon weather this.”

Once the immediate response to the crisis has passed, Kinew said the NDP will be trying to make sure the federal and provincial governments are there with disaster financial assistance.

“Certainly, I think local leadership have got their eyes on the prize for the time being, but there will be a need to do some rebuilding and some more of that infrastructure investment.”

Schuler said that provincial staff are following COVID-19 measures and evacuees are being socially distanced at their gathering places.

Manitobans are asked not to drive to the area during the current situation unless they have business there and to not drive around barricades put in place for safety reasons.

» cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from Bud Robertson

» Twitter: @ColinSlark