A provincial government plan to raise water levels on the Shellmouth Dam has drawn fire from neighbouring municipalities.
Seven municipalities are demanding the Clean Envi ronment Commission investigate the proposal before it is allowed to go ahead.
They say the project, if implemented, will cause extensive erosion, damage cottage developments and hurt local tourism.
The coalition, called the Shellmouth-Assiniboine Valley Economic Development Group (SAVED), involves the towns of Roblin and Russell, the village of Binscarth and the rural municipalities of Shell River, Shellmouth-Boulton, Russell and Silver Creek.
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LIMIT LOCAL FLOODING
Alvin Zimmer, who chairs the group, said the province says the proposed project will limit local flooding and enable a more controlled water release to satisfy needs downstream.
“We’re not opposed to southern Manitoba getting more water,” said Zimmer, reeve of the RM of Shellmouth- Boulton. “What we’re opposed to is us getting hurt on this end.”
The Shellmouth Dam is located on the Assiniboine River northwest of Russell just inside the Manitoba- Saskatchewan border. It is a flood control measure built in 1972 to protect downstream communities, including the city of Winnipeg.
The reservoir behind the dam is named Lake of the Prairies. Asessippi Provincial Park is at the southern end of the lake.
The province proposes installing leaf gates in the dam’s spillway to raise its crest by six feet and hold back an additional 70,000 acre-feet of water on the lake.
CONTROLLED RELEASE
Leaf gates are temporary inflatable barriers with a continuous hinge that allows them to be raised or lowered.
The leaf gates would be engaged when incoming flood water exceeds the dam’s capacity to handle it. This would enable officials to release water at a more controlled rate and reduce the risk of downstream flooding, said Steve Topping, executive director of infrastructure and operations for Manitoba Water Stewardship.
It would also improve the water supply to the lower Assiniboine, Topping said.
But Zimmer said higher water levels behind the dam will erode shorelines and r i v e rbank s , j eopa rdi z ing cottage developments which have sprung up around the lake over the past 12 years.
That’s happening now because of already-high water levels behind the dam and will only get worse if the gates are installed, he said.
Zimmer said he knows one person who bought a lake-front lot, built a house on it “and now all he has is ugly shoreline to look at.”
DAMAGED PROPERTY
Raising lake levels further would only create more damage to property, boat-launching facilities and beach areas, he said.
Topping said higher water levels will only be temporary and the lake will be lowered to normal summer levels. “Mitigation efforts” such as docks and erosion controls will protect the shoreline from damage, he said.
The proposal to install leaf gates on the Shellmouth Dam has been around since the early 1990s. But the idea has gained traction in recent years because of chronic flooding caused by a wet weather cycle, said Topping.
Farmers and other downstream landowners complain the dam is the reason why their land gets regularly flooded in spring and summer. This project will give dam operators greater ability to deal with flood events and alleviate downstream problems, Topping said.
Installing the gates under a federal-provincial flood protection agreement which expires in 2014 could be done within a year at a cost of less than $2 million, said Topping.
Zimmer said his group is urging residents to voice concerns and demand the CEC get involved.
Topping said that would probably happen anyway because the province owns the land associated with the project.
“Projects of this significance and importance normally go through the CEC.”
It’s up to the minister of conservation to ask the CEC to review potential environmental impacts which proposed developments may present. [email protected]
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“Whatwe’reopposedtoisusgettinghurtonthisend.”
– ALVIN ZIMMER
