Committee seeking retention infrastructure for Pipestone, Sifton

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This article was published 26/01/2022 (1604 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pushing to address the adversity created by extreme weather, the RM of Pipestone has joined a new committee looking to bring water retention infrastructure to the municipality.

RM of Pipestone Deputy Reeve Randy Henuset said the proposed water retention infrastructure was

necessitated by the severe drought impacting the municipality. The lack of water in the area has been an ongoing issue.

“We are more dry than we are wet,” Henuset said. “It has proven over time the drought affects us more than lots of water. Lots of water goes away but a drought you can’t do anything about it.”

Henuset is part of a newly confirmed committee that includes representation from the RM of Pipestone, RM of Sifton and the West Souris Conservation District. The partners are currently getting organized in the pursuit of the proposed Cromer Dam and will be going to the provincial and federal governments to push for the construction of the infrastructure.

The committee is proposing to build a water control structure to help retrain and control the flow of water into Oak Lake.

The blueprints for the proposed infrastructure are designed for a one in 20-year flood, Henuset said, with the plan emphasizing the need to adapt to drought situations.

The structure will provide a steady stream of water into Oak Lake and has the potential to flow 365 days a year or be paused over the winter.

“Oak Lake is a stagnant slew once the water quits going over the dam,” Henusets said. “There are million-dollar homes out there and they’ve got to live on a stagnant slew.”

Drought has been an ongoing issue in Pipestone — talk about creating a water retention infrastructure dates back to the late 1950s. Henuset added the conversation was reignited in 1988 after another series of dry years in the RM.

“Nothing has been done,” Henuset said.

It has been a challenging conversation because when they are experiencing extreme aridity the infrastructure is a topic of conversation, he said, but once moisture occurs the topic immediately comes off the table.

“We need a water control structure,” Henuset said.

He added the longer the province waits to act on the project will impact the overall cost. It was originally projected to cost around $750,000 in the 1950s, Henuset said, and the latest estimates now put the cost of the infrastructure roughly around $35 million.

The proposed system can hold 12,000-acre-feet of water, the body of Oak Lake itself holds 4,000.

“We are going to store three times as much water as the lake so we can feed that lake for three years with the water that we save there,” Henuset said.

In order for the proposed infrastructure to become a reality, it will need support from both the provincial and federal governments.

“We can’t afford to do it as an RM,” Henuset said, explaining Pipestone is pushing for action along with the RM of Sifton. The structure would be located in Pipestone, while the lake itself is in Sifton.

A dam is located in Moosomin, Sask. that controls the amount of water flowing through to Manitoba, including Pipestone and Sifton.

It is a complicated situation because it is inter-provincial and at times water is unavailable in the summer when the drought is at its height.

The proposed Cromer Dam, located in the northwest corner of the RM, would help alleviate these adverse conditions, Henuset said.

“It’s a water control structure and we want to drain it when we need water in Oak Lake,” Henuset said.

He added the water from the creek flows down through to Lake Winnipeg.

Would benefit Brandon in flood years because can hold make water as a form of flood mitigation in years of extreme weather.

The past two summers have been horribly dry affecting pastures and crops while leading to an influx of grasshoppers in the region. Henuset added many ranchers were forced to sell cattle early due to lack of available food, increased costs or pulling the animals off pastures.

On the grain side, farmers have been fortunate to see the price of crops double, but yields were also incredibly diminished.

“Instead of being reactive let’s be proactive. We can help in the floods and we can help in the drought,” Henuset said. “Why not spend some money and get it done. It’s good for everybody.”

Henuset is hopeful it will be a different conversation in 2022 as water retention is becoming an increasing concern for the provincial government. He noted 70 per cent of wetlands in Western Canada have disappeared making it imperative to act now.

“We can make more wetlands at Oak Lake because we’re going to raise the level of the lake so there will be more marshland which goes hand-in-hand with carbon sequestration,” Henuset said. “There’s lots of pluses.”

He added a fresh flow of water also has the potential to aid in fresh irrigation along the 16 miles of the affected creek flow, which could directly benefit crop growth in the area.

The RM wants to be able to provide water at all times to ensure it is fresh and flowing preventing algae build-up as well in Oak Lake.

“The lake at Oak Lake, that’s the big problem,” Henuset said.

The oxygen levels at Oak Lake have been under observation, he said, and there are growing concerns the fish that call the water home may die because it will eventually freeze out.

He added the infrastructure also has the potential to have positive impacts across southwest Manitoba because it would encourage tourism. People from across the province, Saskatchewan and the United States have cottages in the area and the economic spin-off is massive.

“If the fish ever died there, holy man, it’s going to impact our corner pretty badly,” Henuset said.

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