Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

International huddle on disaster prevention

REGINA -- Political leaders in Saskatchewan and North Dakota are wading through ideas to avoid another flood catastrophe.

Premier Brad Wall, along with Environment Minister Dustin Duncan, met Friday with Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Sen. John Hoeven to discuss a flood protection plan for the Souris River Basin.

Everything is on the table, they said.

"You're going to see more storage where we can create it -- Rafferty, Alameda and Lake Darling. You're going to see levee work, diversion work along the river," said Hoeven.

The Rafferty and Alameda Dams are in southeast Saskatchewan, while Lake Darling is in North Dakota.

Heavy rainfall last spring overwhelmed the reservoirs in Saskatchewan and the province said it had to release water to preserve the integrity of the structures.

There was no place else for the water to go but downstream. Parts of southeast Saskatchewan were flooded. But Minot, N.D. was hardest hit -- more than 10,000 people were forced from their homes. Some 4,100 houses along with hundreds of businesses were damaged.

Dalrymple said there is "nothing that our Saskatchewan neighbours could have done" to stop the flooding.

"The way the dams were managed was exactly according to plan and every decision that could have been made was made properly," he said at a news conference in Regina.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 4, 2012 A13

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