The alert and activity levels have been increased in southeast Saskatchewan as residents and officials prepare for possible flood waters ... again.
Although the flood potential remains lower than it was in the spring and summer of 2011 when the southeast sector was inundated with devastating raging river waters that destroyed properties and homes not only in Saskatchewan but also North Dakota, the warning signals have been given. As a result of those signals, the provincial government appointed a special cabinet committee to deal with the results of one of the largest melting snowpacks in recent history.
The committee will be chaired by Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter who spoke with The Mercury last week outlining some of the activities that are taking place to avert another disaster. Reiter it was noted, is also the minister responsible for the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP).
Others on the preparedness committee include Environment Minister Ken Cheveldayoff, who is also minister responsible for the Water Security Agency (WSA), Highways and Infrastructure Minister Don McMorris and Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart. Reiter said the province can tap into the $182 million Growth and Financial Security Fund if need be to cover potential costs associated with flooding.Government officials held meetings in March in at-risk regions, providing more than 200 communities with information and advice regarding mitigative actions that can be taken to prevent and/or respond to flooding.
While this was going on, the volumes of water being released from Rafferty and Alameda Dams were being ramped up to accommodate the extra snow that fell in the region in March.
"Equipment is being gathered, everyone is getting prepared," Reiter said. "The files are still open, the Water Security Agency is lowering the water levels in the reservoirs in preparation, and I think North Dakota is on the same page as us for managing the flow." Dale Hjertaas, executive director policy and communications for WSA, confirmed that the water release rate in the two dams had been stepped up since the additional snow fell in early and mid-March.
The release rate at Rafferty is now 20 metres per second (m3/s) compared with six m3/s at the beginning of winter which was later increased to 16 m3/s. The release rate at the Alameda Dam was increased to 14 m3/s from the previous rate of nine m3/s. A release from Boundary Dam has also been initiated but that is done through the auspices of SaskPower, not WSA since that body of water comes under SaskPower's jurisdiction.
There had been no release of water from Boundary prior to mid-March, and it is now being let go at a rate of six m3/s. Reiter added that the volume of water can only be released in agreement with North Dakota and U.S. authorities who are partners in the reservoir management schemes. "More importantly the levels in the reservoirs are down. Rafferty is at 549.2 metres now (March 28) which is 1.3 metres below full supply level and it can take another 3.5 metres above full supply level for flood protection," Reiter said. That is lower than it was prior to the 2011 flood.
"Alameda is 1.5 metres below full supply level and it can take as much as five metres beyond full supply level to handle flood conditions." Reiter added that he knew the last official snowpack forecast did not include the latest snowfalls so the ramping up of releases was seen as prudent by officials on both sides of the international border.
"In the fall and early winter of 2010 there were a lot of creeks running in the southeast. This year the release is a direct response to the additional snow," said Hjertaas.
"Everybody is going to be as prepared as possible. There are always factors to be weighed that we can't control, so we must be ready for a worst case scenario," Reiter said.
As a result, Highways and Infrastructure have marshalled road building materials including culverts and bridge replacement components including 30 culvert steamers and trailers filled with other equipment ready to be dispatched on short notice. There are 15 such emergency trailers with 150 portable lighting stands, 5,000 signs and markers, 500 sets of barricades and 25, 400-gallon water tanks, 30 pumps, 100 night flagging kits and 750 barricade lights.
Thousands of sandbags and sand are also being made available on top of the bags and materials that may have been left over and put in storage in various RM sheds and shops following the spring floods of 2011. Reiter said WSA provided more than $25 million to assist in the construction of 580 permanent flood prevention projects over the past two years.
In the meantime local residents nervously surveyed the rising waters on the Souris River over the weekend as the big melt began in earnest, keeping in mind the fact that flat terrain areas such as those found around Macoun, Benson and Lampman still hadn't evaporated to any large measure since the overwhelming onslaught of water in 2011. On March 28, Cheveldayoff said WSA had launched a new mobile website that will provide immediate updated information during this springs runoff.
"This will give people direct access to news and advisories so they can check stream flows and lake levels from the palm of their hand," he said.
Users can browse the up-to-date news on a smartphone or tablet and they can search a list of communities and find their local areas and view a chart of the stream flows and lake levels nearest them. To access this WSA moble site, visit www.wsask.ca from a smartphone or tablet and bookmark it. WSA is also implementing a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to news releases and advisories section on www.wsask.ca This will allows users to subscribe directly to a web feed from WSA, then receive an e-mail notification once new information has been posted.
And while all this information was being dispatched, it became very clear, but needing to be restated that reservoir and river ice was extremely unsafe to walk or drive on at any location now that the water is running at an increased tempo. This includes the Souris River as well as Long Creek. Municipalities needing to secure additional flood supplies are being instructed to contact Government Relations.
The equipment and supplies being made available there include the sandbags and sandbag machines, pumps, hoses, barrier systems and small generators.
"Everyone has a role to play. I strongly encourage individuals to take active measures to safeguard their property and families, so we minimize the impacts of flooding as much as possible," Reiter said in conclusion.
To further improve flood watch information WSA and government officials have arranged for an open house session today (Wednesday, April 3) at the Super 8 Hotel in Estevan from 3 to 8 p.m.
