$22M slated for flood defences

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This article was published 24/01/2011 (5691 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province expects to spend $22 million during the next couple of months in preparation for an anticipated spring flood, the Free Press has learned.

Provincial experts are set to announce their first flood forecast of the year at a news conference this afternoon. Premier Greg Selinger will then elaborate on the government’s flood-fighting plans.

Last week, the U.S. National Weather Service compared the magnitude of the flooding expected along the Red River south of the border this spring to the major flood of 2009.

A Manitoba government spokesman said Sunday the $22 million will be spent on “resources and equipment” in advance of the anticipated flood.

“There is the possibility of significant flooding in southern Manitoba this spring,” the spokesman said. “This could change, depending on upcoming weather conditions, but the province is making preparations based on current information.”

Last week, city and provincial officials said they were working on a plan to offer subsidies to homeowners who install backwater valves and sump pumps to reduce damage from the expected flood.

The province is not divulging financial details about those subsidies. The spokesman would provide no further details, including whether the earmarked funds were new, before the premier’s announcement today.

Saturated soil and higher-than-normal snowfall on both sides of the border have produced ideal conditions for spring flooding. The unknown factor is the speed and timing of the cross-border melt.

American flood forecasters said last week there is a 20 per cent chance the Red River at Fargo will surpass the record crest set there in 2009.

At Pembina, N.D., near the Manitoba border, they calculated there was a 70 per cent likelihood of a 2009-like flood.

Manitoba recently purchased a third Amphibex icebreaker for $1.2 million to smash up river ice and prevent dangerous ice jams this spring.

In 2009, the province incurred $41 million in unforeseen costs due to that year’s flood.

Selinger has already put Prime Minister Stephen Harper on notice about what Manitoba faces this spring, and Winnipeg emergency preparedness officer Randy Hull has told Mayor Sam Katz to expect genuine problems.

Heavy machinery will be stationed at city bridges to break up any ice jams that occur. Ice-cutters will start slicing up river ice within a month.

The Red River Floodway has been used 27 times since it was built more than 40 years ago and has prevented more than $12 billion in flood damage to Winnipeg. As demonstrated in 2009, the floodway can be operated despite the presence of ice.

Any non-budgeted spending would place further pressure on the province’s finances, which are already in the red.

 

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca