Farmers blame province for flooding near Shellmouth Reservoir

Barry and Kathy Routledge of Lenore, Man. survey their flooded farmland in the Assiniboine Valley.

The battle over the operation of the Shellmouth Reservoir is boiling over once again.

Producers who farm in the Assiniboine Valley are blaming the province for flooding thousands of acres of farmland this season.

For the third year in a row Barry Routledge has seen his Virden area farm under water. This year he’s lost 900 acres and expects it will cost him more than $100,000 in lost income.

“There’s pride in owning this land in the valley. That pride has been taken away,” said Routledge.

And Routledge isn’t alone. Keystone Agricultural Producers said flooding in the Assiniboine Valley has destroyed a total of 40,000 acres. The flooding is estimated to cost producers $20 million.

“If we lose the opportunity to farm the valley, we just might as well leave,” said Stan Cochrane of Assiniboine Valley Producers.

Producers blame the province for holding back too much water in the Shellmouth Reservoir northwest of Brandon in anticipation of a drought. Producers argue if the water had been released sooner, the reservoir would have been better able to handle heavy rains from April to June.

“If we’re going to ask private landowners or municipalities to store water, we need to have a compensation plan,” said Dough Chorney of Keystone Agricultural Producers. “If there’s a big public benefit, the public should pay for that.”

But the province said there are no guarantees against flooding in the Shellmouth area. This year, officials said, the area was hit with more than 200 millimeters of rain – doubling the average amount the area receives.

Officials said even if they had released water sooner, it would not have made a difference in the area’s flooding.

Routledge disagrees. “Unfortunately they aired on the side of caution – holding more water back. We see the results of that mistake,” said Routledge.

Provincial officials said the decision not to release the water sooner actually came after a committee – made up of producers and community members along the river – rejected the plan in June. The province said it even recommended releasing more water.

Cochrane said that isn’t accurate. “You can’t blame it on us,” he said.

Cochrane and other producers are now calling on the province to do a better job regulating outflows from the dam. They also want to see better compensation programs.

The province said it will look into compensation programs for farmers between the Shellmouth Dam and Brandon. Provincial officials will also consider increasing the capacity of the reservoir.

-- with a report from CTV’s Josh Crabb