Sandbags top Winnipeg list for 2020 flood prep program

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This article was published 20/02/2020 (2211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg’s spring flood preparation wish list includes $200,000 worth of sandbags, and thousands more in emergency equipment that would be deployed in the case of a major event.

The new batch of empty sandbags tops the city’s recent funding request to the province, as its current stock nears the end of its working life. The Winnipeg public works department also hopes to purchase an emergency response trailer outfitted with hand tools, temporary dikes, a generator, and gas pumps, at a cost of $115,000.

The department also plans to spend $150,000 on consultant and training fees, as it brings its flood-management system procedures up to the latest standards.

City officials sent a request for provincial support — valued at $640,000 — to the recently-minted 2020 flood preparation program Thursday. The Manitoba government announced the one-time cash injection for municipalities last week, with the intent to bring programs online to mitigate financial losses and property damage caused by potential flooding this spring.

To receive funding, municipalities must make the purchases before March 31.

The City of Winnipeg is eligible for up to $500,000 in funding, while other municipalities can request up to $150,000. The province will be measuring asks against flood risk, efficacy of the programs, regional benefits and future resiliency.

Also on the city’s list are portable cameras to monitor ice conditions and potential ice jams on waterways, ice measurement tools, lighting, generators, emergency operation centre equipment, water rescue equipment and a collection of floatation jackets (worth $34,000).

The U.S. National Weather Service’s latest spring flood outlook says there is a high risk of major flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota along the Red River in Fargo/Moorhead, Halstad, Grand Forks/East Grand Forks, Oslo, Drayton and Pembina.

It also notes the risk for significant snowmelt flooding is substantial and above long-term historical averages. The Grand Forks, N.D., weather office is predicting significantly high flows at all main stem points to the Red River influenced by excess soil moisture and a high winter snowpack.

Manitoba is expected to release its first spring flood outlook during the last week of February.

A basins condition report issued by the province at the beginning of February noted precipitation levels in parts of the Red River and Souris River basin were 200 per cent above normal since Nov. 1, while much of Manitoba and Saskatchewan received below-normal precipitation.

Soil moisture also ranges from well above normal in central and southern Manitoba, and in the U.S. portion of the Red River watershed levels are near-record highs.