Saskatchewan flood risk on Qu’Appelle River ‘urgent’

REGINA – The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority has sharply increased its estimate of water levels for the Qu’Appelle River basin – news that has several communities, including Regina, bracing for the worst.

So serious is the situation that a provincial government news update sent out late Friday afternoon spoke of "urgent flood risk."

John Fahlman, acting director for basin operations for the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said the new estimated peak levels are for all the lakes along the Qu’Appelle River from Buffalo Pound through to the Manitoba border.

"We had our earlier predictions and what we’re observing is that the amount of volume and the peaks coming off the tributaries are bigger than what we first predicted," said Fahlman, during the daily provincial flood briefing on Friday. "This is showing up in no better place than Moose Jaw. Moose Jaw River and Wascana Creek are two of the main tributaries into Qu’Appelle system above Lumsden."

The Moose Jaw River rose again Friday from 200 cubic metres per second (CMS) late Thursday night to 240 cubic metres per second. Fahlman said the flow can increase to about 300 CMS in the next couple of days.

"What it means on the ground is another two feet," he said. "That flow continues down the Qu’Appelle River and what that’s going to do is that it’s going to cause higher flows in stages where the Moose Jaw River enters the Qu’Appelle system. This is going to back water up again to Buffalo Pound Lake and increase the flows downstream towards Lumsden."

He expected the new peaks to reach Lumsden, population 1,600 where a municipal state of emergency was declared Thursday afternoon, in the next couple of days.

"There is a risk of water topping Highway 11 in the next few days," said Fahlman. "We are working with (Corrections, Public Safety and Policing) and Highways on that."

The City of Regina is also watching, waiting and preparing for Wascana Creek to peak.

Jay O’Connor, manager of emergency preparedness and business continuity for the city, said the city is preparing for the kind of flooding it hasn’t experienced in 50 years.

"The city has taken many precautions already to sandbag any areas where we might have had concerns water may get close to roads or back alley ways," he said. "With the new predictions coming, water could be as high as the top of those sandbags where they sit now. So what we’re going to do now is go back to increase the height of all those to give us a margin of safety."

O’Connor said the city is monitoring all its dikes to ensure the safety of residents and property.

Doug Wakabayashi, spokesman for provincial highways and infrastructure ministry, said the number of road impacted by flood waters continues to increase. As of Friday, there were 50 sections of highway affected including 20 sections of closed highways.

Next door in Manitoba, the provincial government announced Friday it will pump $1.5 million into the flood fight at Peguis First Nation.

The money will be used by the community to obtain additional flood-fighting equipment, Emergency Measures Organization Minister Steve Ashton said Friday.

Peguis, on the Fisher River about 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, has been hit hard this spring by high water. As of Friday, 543 of 647 people displaced by flooding in Manitoba are from Peguis.

Elsewhere on the flood front, Manitoba officials said colder weather and snow this weekend will delay the spring melt, and they will re-evaluate early next week the impact of that extra precipitation on flood levels.

Highway 75, a major artery between Winnipeg and the U.S. border, remained open Friday. But it’s being closely watched for possible closure on a day-by-day basis.

There are now 72 sections of road affected by flood waters, with 37 roads closed or limited to local traffic and 24 under caution or have one lane of traffic.

– with files from the Winnipeg Free Press