Thursday, August 7, 2014

1. Thursday, August 7, 2014 Southwest Regional Information/Sharing Plenary Deloraine/Winchester Community Hall

2. Welcome Introduction of Invited Guests

3. Agenda Drew Caldwell – Opening Statement Municipal Partners Conservation Districts Manitoba Water Stewardship MLA Caldwell and Piwniuk Closing Remarks

4. Problems • Every 300 year events are occurring with more frequency • Spring runoffs used to take 2 weeks, now less than 2 days • Loss of tax base/assessment • Road infrastructure compromised • Reduced economy • Loss of acres • Migratory birds not as plentiful

5. Problems • 144 sites in 2014 this year fall under the DFA program • Legal and illegal drainage adds to the problem • Legal system for drainage infractions is not adequate • Whitewater Lake has grown exponentially • Abandoned CPR trestle is compromised

6. Past Actions/Proposed Resolutions • 1971 PFRA Study proposed an outlet at 1627 ft to Medora Creek ($290,000) • 1976 Water Resources Study – 7 mile outlet with improvements to Medora Creek ($928,000) or 6.9 mile outlet channel at Elgin Creek ($991,000) • 2009 TMCD Study – indicates Medora Creek could potentially take 1.4 m3/s from the lake if operated during dry periods

7. Alternatives • Upland storage • Diking community/farmsteads etc. • Buyout of impacted lands • High water financial assistance programs • Integrated Watershed Management Plan

8. Reality Whitewater Lake has found its own path and is currently spilling into Medora Creek

9. Reality Whitewater Lake continues to grown beyond any estimated boundaries

10. Issue Abandoned CP Rail trestle is compromised, privately owned, and spillover may impact private residences as well as municipal infrastructure

11. Issue Previous attempts to mitigate and resolve the trestle have been met with opposition by the current landowner and loss of revenue by local golf club

12. Issue The Province continues to throw dollars at emergencies, many sites are repaired over and over again!

13. Issue Municipal Roads are currently the only infrastructure or retention structures holding back runoff

14. Our Neighbours • Cannot accept additional water during peak seasons

15. Water Stewardship • Enforcement is ineffective, given the paramount task of compiling information and attending court proceedings. • Fines are minimal and for most offenders, it is easily written off as ‘cost of doing business’

16. DFA Program • Permanent dykes are not being funded • Province is throwing $ at emergencies but not at long term solutions • The Program is cumbersome and obviously difficult to navigate • Problems arising due to multi-year sites and our inability to repair

17. Winchester’s Proposed Solutions

18. Whitewater Lake • Moratorium on any and all drainage into this body of water • A controlled release during non-critical times from both Medora Creek and Whitewater Elgin • Establish a holding level that is agreeable to local and neighbouring municipalities

19. Deloraine Reservoir • Provincial Technical Assistance from MIT to assess impacts, and provide a report to the Municipality whereby they will mitigate with the private landowner to resolve this issue.

20. Other Areas • Work with provincial officials, conservation districts and other agencies to provide the best possible locations, and funding to be able to establish and build water retention areas upstream

21. Thanks Any questions or comments?

22. TOWN OF DELORAINEAugust 7, 2014

23. EAST ROAD THE EAST ROAD ACTS AS A DYKE FOR THE TOWN AND WE FEEL THAT THERE ARE AREAS THAT NEED TO BE RAISED IN ORDER TO KEEP THE WATER FROM ENTERING DELORAINE FROM THE EAST MEDORA CREEK

24. East Road Pumps In each flood situation we have had to pump the water from the west side of the east road over the road to allow the water to eventually flow out the Medora Creek.

25. East and West Medora Creek On the West side of Town as you can see the Orange illustrates how the present creek system winds it’s way through Deloraine. The pink line illustrates a proposed plan to straighten the creek and keep it away from Deloraine. KGS is working on some proposals of what we can do to reduce our water problems. East Medora Creek floods fields and pasture land and as long as we can keep it on the East side of the East Road. We also have a new situation and that is how much Whitewater lake has expanded and it is lapping on our doorstep as well.

26. Highway 21 This shows the volume of water that was coming through Town and also along Highway 21. This is why it is vital that we have the creek heading towards 21 or even divert it so it goes on the West side of 21 highway.

27. Renton Avenue This is what happens when the creek on the East side of Town gets so high that it starts to back up into Town in 2005 it came and the west side and worked it’s way through Town and we had to pump the water over the East Road.

28. Water Tanker Trucks During our 2014 Flood this was the only way we were able to keep 3 intersections from expanding into peoples yards and basements. We had no where for us to be able to pump the water to, so we hired these trucks and they loaded the water and took it out of Town.

29. Pumps This is the only way that Deloraine can fight against the amount of water that is coming from out of the Mountain and hitting Deloraine is by strategically placing pumps and pumping water so it does not flood the streets and people’s basements.

30. In Conclusion There have been a number of studies done in the last number of years and to date nothing has changed. We really need to find away to keep West Medora Creek from winding it’s way through Deloraine. It borders our Seniors Housing complex , along with our Bren-Del-Win Lodge and hospital are all at risk. Obviously some of the problems that the R.M. of Winchester are dealing with affect what is happening in Deloraine so it is important that we work at this together. We definitely need the Provincial Government’s help in order to accomplish this task.