Actions for Selkirk Area - Part of Floodway Expansion due diligence

by News Media Services - Manitoba

December 5, 2002 - Manitoba is developing new initiatives to protect Selkirk area residents as part of the expansion of the Red River Floodway, Premier Gary Doer and Conservation Minister Steve Ashton announced today.

"A year ago, I promised to expand the scope of the IJC report to include a study of the impact that an expanded floodway would have on communities north of Winnipeg," Doer said. "We have completed that review, and part of moving the expansion forward is to follow up on the outstanding questions
voiced by residents of Selkirk and the surrounding area.

"We promised action to address those questions and we are delivering on that today with financial and legislative commitments. We must ensure through legislation and other measures that Manitobans living immediately upstream and downstream of the floodway are treated in a fair and equitable manner."

Doer said the province is committed to:

- Flood compensation legislation to give citizens the right to financial compensation if they experience artificial flooding due to floodway operation, including residents living north of the floodway.

- An ice coring program to address the issue of ice jams on the Red River through regular monitoring and coring where necessary. Coring will be triggered by monitoring criteria (flow rate, ice thickness and strength, and flood forecast) established in consultation with the community.

- Ground water monitoring to determine whether there are any impacts on local ground water. Mitigation of any potential impacts, which are expected to be minimal, has already been factored into the cost of floodway expansion and is part of the floodway proposal that's been submitted to the federal government.

- Continuing to work with municipalities and their elected representatives throughout the floodway expansion process to address any issues that may arise as the project progresses. Extensive electronic surface mapping known as LiDAR (light detection and ranging) of the Red River Valley was completed in September. Topographic information is used to project flood water levels throughout the valley with a sophisticated computer model.

This modelling indicates:

- An expanded floodway would have no impact on water levels above natural levels north of Winnipeg except in a flood greater than a one-in-250 year occurrence.

- The Red River would still be within its natural banks north of Winnipeg even if there were an additional foot of water during a one-in-700-year flood.

- A one-in-700-year flood has never occurred in recorded history in Manitoba and is the level of protection offered by an expanded floodway.

"Existing projects like the Shellmouth Reservoir and the Portage Diversion mean that water levels in the Selkirk area are lower than they would be in the state of nature (if no flood control works had been built)," Doer added.

"However, as we move forward on building an expanded floodway, we want to ensure that Selkirk residents share our confidence in the project."

A recent value engineering study by an international panel of engineers on Red River Floodway expansion plans has endorsed the design concept and work done to date, and recommended 100 ideas for improving benefits and minimizing impacts. Value engineering is a process to test and improve major design concepts on infrastructure projects. Proposals are put through a rigorous peer review to help identify ways of improving operation, reliability, cost and risk-mitigation.

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