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Flooding Big Concern In RM Of Sifton

Recent flooding along with this year’s accumulation of snow and precipitation continue to be a concern for many. Farmland is being lost with water levels high. Ditches are full to the brim and threaten road structure. Cyril Druwe, Acting Reeve for R.
Flood Concerns

Recent flooding along with this year’s accumulation of snow and precipitation continue to be a concern for many. Farmland is being lost with water levels high. Ditches are full to the brim and threaten road structure.

Cyril Druwe, Acting Reeve for R.M. of Sifton says, “We are preparing for severe flooding this spring by clearing culverts and purchasing extra pumps and hoses.” He adds that if the snow continues to melt slowly, hopes are flooding this spring will be minimal. “The problem is that water table level usually goes down in the fall, but hasn’t come down much since 2011.” says Druwe.

Flooding for R.M.s is time consuming and costly with more meetings, more operator hours, and more equipment costs. Road repairs are another issue for the R.M.  Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation (MIT) helps with costs related to damaged or flooded rural roads. But, MIT only covers the cost of repairing a road to its original state and not improving road structure to prevent reoccurring flood damage.

The Southwest Flood Strategy Committee (SFSC), formed in 2011under the leadership of former reeve Rick Plaisier, is working on initiatives to deal with standing water from previous and future flooding. Gord Weidenhamer, member of SFSC from Deloraine, suggests that land owners who hold water on their land be paid for this service, while land owners who drain water off their land should pay fees for doing so. “It’s much like the ALUS Project (a program in its infancy) where the provincial government pays land owners to hold water on their land.”, says  Weindenhamer, “ The difference being; this is a no cost idea, where one side pays the other.”

Eligible farmers and land owners can receive financial aid through Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA), a provincial and federally funded program which assists in claims that are not insurable.

The Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) also helps cover such things as flooded fences or windbreaks.

Randy Franke has been on his farm between Oak Lake and Virden for 40 years and says in all those years he has never seen this much water. Franke raises cattle and grows feed for his cattle. He says of his 1000 acres, that 200 acres of it is flooded. “We can only seed high spots for feed and have had to rent hay land due to the loss of acreage,” says Franke. He adds, “Last year after moving cattle, all of the calves got pneumonia from having to swim through water to get to the pasture.”

Franke says that neither the R.M. nor federal government have offered any help, and he feels it is an avoided issue. He says the whole picture needs to be taken into account by government.

A previous reeve, Franke says the municipal handbook they gave him says: ditches are to be maintained. “Putting in culverts and cleaning bull rush out of the ditches that holds water back would be a good start to getting the sitting water to move,” says Franke. He adds that a long term solution to use the water would be a good way to deal with current and future flooding.

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