Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says his government may resort to new tactics in the hope of minimizing damage from ongoing floods, including a "controlled release" to staunch rising water levels.
The controversial move could see one part of Southern Manitoba swamped in the hopes of minimizing flooding in other areas along the surging Assiniboine River.
Authorities would use the release "to protect as many people and homes and properties as possible in rural Manitoba," Selinger told CTV's Power Play.
He couldn't provide additional details about the controlled flood because the plans were still being discussed with officials, Selinger said.
"But we're quite sure that something additional will have to be done," he said. "As soon as that information is available we'll make it publicly disclosed."
Meanwhile members of the Canadian Forces are busy sandbagging in Southern Manitoba in an effort to protect threatened areas in the flood-ravaged region.
With forecasters calling for between 20 and 50 millimetres of rain for the Brandon area in the coming days, about 500 troops will lay 2.7 million sandbags in an effort to protect hundreds of thousands of homes. Soldiers have already begun working near Portage la Prairie and Brandon, while the province and military scout other locations for sandbags.
The soldiers are mostly from the nearby Canadian Forces Base Shilo, and will have three days to raise or strengthen dikes along parts of the Assiniboine River. They'll have access to helicopters, Zodiac-style boats and trucks able to travel through water in order to access difficult-to-reach areas.
Manitoba's minister responsible for emergency measures said Monday morning that the military has the training, equipment and expertise he hopes can stave off flooding in the Assiniboine watershed.
"We've been dealing with upwards of 50 per cent more water than the flood record in 1976," Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said Monday, noting that more than 50,000 cubic feet of water per second is flowing down the Assiniboine and the Portage Diversion.
Normal capacity is just 15,000 cubic feet per second through the river and 25,000 through the diversion, he explained.
"So we're looking at ways to increase the flow through both sections so that we can protect homes in the surrounding area."
In the initial stage, the army will be in charge of building, maintaining and repairing the dikes. Afterward, Ashton suggested the soldiers will be well-positioned to offer whatever other assistance they can.
"The precipitation is going to make it very wet and difficult to gain access to certain spots," Ashton said, "and their very specialized training and experience is going to be extremely valuable."
While spring flooding concerns are an annual spring rite in southern Manitoba, Ashton said conditions this year are out of the ordinary.
The Red River which flows through Winnipeg has already crested, he said, emphasizing that flood measures there worked "extremely well."
As a result, the greatest concern is focused on areas west of the capital.
The Assiniboine River has risen more than 60 centimetres since Friday. And that's on top of a May 1 rain and snowstorm that left the ground saturated and the Assiniboine swollen to record levels. Making matters worse was the discovery late last week of a faulty instrument that meant the rising Assiniboine River level caught officials off guard.
And now, the rain expected to fall in the coming days can only make matters worse, as officials expect the river to keep rising until at least Wednesday, and then maintain its peak level for at least one week. If the area gets the 50 millimetres of rain at the upper end of the forecast, the water in the river could rise half a metre.
A state of emergency was declared in Brandon on Sunday, in part to prepare for the anticipated disaster, but also to stop the streams of sightseers said to be hampering the efforts of workers trying to erect dikes where the river flows through the city.
The state of emergency is slated to last until May 21 and gives police the authority to restrict access to parts of the city, as well as granting city workers the right to trespass and comandeer private property as needed.
Selinger said the state of emergency extends to municipalities along the Assiniboine and "allows our personnel, including military personnel, to get in there and do the things necessary to fortify the dykes."
He added that he was "very concerned" about the rising water levels, particularly because more rain is expected in the region in coming days.
The state of emergency declaration also sets the stage for mandatory evacuations.
Approximately 1,100 people have evacuated their homes across parts of Manitoba. Ashton said the number has dropped in the last few days, as residents of communities in the Red River Valley return home.
However, 900 more people were asked to leave their homes in Brandon on Monday in anticipation of the coming rain.
After he toured the Brandon area on Sunday, Selinger said the city should brace for "unprecedented flows of water" in the coming days.
In a statement announcing his federal government's decision to deploy the army in the flood fight, Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged the scale of the flooding and praised what he called "the resolve and courage" demonstrated by Manitobans in the face of adversity.
Selinger is expected to apply for money from the federal-provincial Disaster Financial Assistance Program.
The last time the military was deployed to fight flooding in Manitoba was in 1997, when 8,000 troops were sent to battle Winnipeg's "Flood of the Century."
With files from The Canadian Press and a report by CTV Winnipeg's Caroline Barghout
