Oak Lake dam to undergo $20-M repairs
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2025 (261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRANDON — The provincial and federal governments will spend close to $20 million on the aging Oak Lake dam, which has needed to be repaired for 20 years.
Manitoba is contributing just under $17 million, while the federal government is putting in $2.75 million, a provincial spokesperson said Thursday.
Rural Municipality of Sifton Reeve Cyril Druwe was overjoyed. “That’s huge. That’s one thing off our demands for the government, so it’s great.”
Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Files
Mike Ketcheson of Brandon releases a northern pike back into Oak Lake while fishing at the lake’s outlet dam in May. The province announced Thursday, the provincial and federal governments will spend close to $20 million on the aging Oak Lake dam, which has needed repairs for 20 years.
The spillway will be reconstructed, the east embankment repaired, and additional rock used to widen most of the west embankment to stabilize it. Work will start this fall, with no set end date.
Druwe said the 61-year-old dam provides people with the chance to swim, boat and fish.
“It’s important for the RM, you know, the more activity, the better it is for ratepayers and our RM and anybody else,” Druwe said.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said reconstruction will allow it to “remain safely operational” for the next 50 years.
“The Oak Lake dam is a cornerstone of local safety, economic stability, environmental stewardship and climate resilience,” said Naylor, in a news release. “That’s why its rehabilitation is both necessary and timely.”
An access road to the dam was upgraded last fall in preparation for the repairs, and the tender for the project is expected to be issued later this year, the release said.
The dam was built in 1964 to “control spring runoff waters flooding into the lake, and to store it for seasons of low flow and improve the area’s recreational potential,” the Brandon Sun reported in August of that year.
Then-premier Duff Roblin opened the dam by sparking the explosion of 12 pounds of dynamite so water could reach the barrier.
Druwe said the dam has served the area well. He said he’s been on council for about 27 years, and the RM started pleading for repairs to be conducted more than two decades ago.
“But the governments have lots of infrastructure to maintain and take care of… we realize that. (Our dam) wasn’t actually totally broken.”
— Brandon Sun