Based solely on the Saskatchewan Party government press releases, one might assume it has done all it can to prepare for the spring flood.
Consider the April 2 release from the Watershed Security Agency praising minister responsible Ken Cheveldayoff for continuing "to assist residents faced with threats of flooding with the 2013 Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program (EFDRP)."
The release goes on say the government will provide "100 per cent of costs for engineering assistance and purchase of sandbags by local governments."
Meanwhile, individuals will be reimbursed 85 per cent and communities and businesses for 75 per cent for "the cost of approved, permanent flood protection... like berms, culverts and lift station work."
The government will also cover 50 per cent of the costs of temporary flood protection measures like sandbags and pumping expenses, the news release said.
Typical of such government information, it's made to sound rather generous ... notwithstanding the fact that the dollars they are talking about are actually the ones you contributed through your taxes.
And also typical of such government information, it's made to sound like the government has always been on top of this looming problem that could quickly convert to a crisis with a few heavy spring rains.
But has the Sask. Party government truly been as prepared as it now suggests? Well, let's go back three weeks earlier to provincial budget day.
Despite the fact there was no budgeted line item to deal with the potential financial implications of what has been the heaviest snowfall on record, Finance Minister Ken Krawetz offered his assurances that there would be no reason to worry. Money would simply flow from $695.1 million Growth and Financial Security Fund (GFSF).
"We can't plan for disaster, but I think we have a good backup situation," Krawetz said.
The approach raised some eyebrows and concern from the NDP opposition, given that problems people had with the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) in 2911.
Since then, the government has found it necessary to suggest there will be at least $182 million available through the GFSF and outlined the above compensation plan in the press release.
But wouldn't it have been smarter for government to make it known months in advance to both municipalities and individuals that there would be specific compensation set aside? Wouldn't that have allowed both them and government officials to prepare in earnest?
At the municipal level, RMs, towns and cities are now scrambling to clear ditches and culverts and dig channels. But while the government boasts of the $25 million it has put towards flood control in recent years, it remains clear that much more could have and should have been done, especially given the impact of the 2011 flood.
For example, consider the efforts of Corman Park and the communities of Warman, Dalmeny, Osler and Martensville _ expected to be some of the harder hit areas this year, to established the Opimihaw Creek Watershed Association to deal with long-standing flooding problems. While the multi-million dollar project will one day result in a long-term plan for drainage that will protect homes and infrastructure in the area, that plan isn't in effect yet.
Sure, flooding disasters are not, thankfully, an every-year occurrence. But had the government announced its contingency plans even last year when it established the Watershed Security Authority, perhaps we wouldn't see the scrambling we now see. Perhaps the right preparatory choices would have already been made.
Yet the government didn't set aside a single dime for flooding in the actual budget. One can guess why. If that $182 million for flooding had been budgeted, it would have made it very tough for the government to argue that the budget is balanced.
Sadly, sometimes governments are more interested in the appearance of having things under control.
