Concern and water rising in Quill Lake area

Watch above: The water levels of Big and Little Quill Lakes continue to rise, taking with it more farm land and causing further hardship for residents. Wendy Winiewski reports.

QUILL LAKE, Sask. – 520.6 meters above sea level. This is the new record for Big and Little Quill Lakes, according to the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA).

Water levels forced the R.M. of Lakeside to close Grid 640 this week. Without it, Jason Pawluk who commutes from the village of Quill Lake to the town of Wynyard daily for work, has an additional 45 kilometers to drive, each way.

“It has more than doubled my distance, doubled my fuel bill, car expenses, maintenance, stuff like that,” said Pawluk.

READ MORE: Flooding forces Sask. R.M. to close bridge between Quill lakes

Lakeside Reeve Arnold Boyko said the road closure is a first for the R.M. The bridge passing between the two lakes is no longer considered safe and the R.M. had no other options.

“I keep close track of rainfall and since 2006, I’ve had about 16 feet of water fall in my yard, that’s not including snowfall,” said Boyko, who calls the moisture unprecedented.

According to Patrick Boyle with the WSA, these lakes are problematic because Big Quill Lake is a closed basin.

“Little Quill flows into Big Quill and Big Quill has no outlet so they don’t drain anywhere” explains Boyle.

“The Quill Lakes have risen to record levels and essentially what’s happening is they’re turning into one lake” said Boyle.

The heart of the problem rests on the shoulders of area farmers according to Jason Friesen, who is an R.M. councillor and an area farmer.

“There’s thousands and thousands of acres under water,” he said. “We have one producer who’s approaching 2000 acres. I, myself, am close to 1000 acres under water.”

The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) helps with remediation and prevention covering up to 85 per cent of the cost. As for crop insurance though, any land that remains underwater due to previous years’ moisture is not eligible as it is not considered in adequate seeding condition according to Saskatchewan Crop Insurance’s set standards.

“There’s been no compensation for lost land, lost income, those revenues …” said Friesen.

That’s why 12 affected R.M.’s and four communities have come together, forming the Quill Lakes Flood Impact Group. The purpose of the group is to lobby the provincial government for compensation and also to find a long term solution.

The group has identified the southwest corner of Big Quill Lake as the spot to begin draining some water from it, into Last Mountain Lake.

A formal request has not yet been submitted. Pending approval from the WSA, all area residents can do in the meantime is try to stay afloat.