WINNIPEG – So far, the Manitoba government’s intentional flood of a large farming area southeast of Portage La Prairie is going according to plan.
The province says no homes in the zone have been flooded, and as of late Sunday, only three had water reaching the bottom of their protective dikes.
Infrastructure Minister Steve Ashton says the water is being released and spreading out so slowly, a person walking next to it would be faster.
He says the deliberate flood is easing pressure on the Assiniboine River and preventing it from rising any further.
The government cut a hole in a dike on Saturday, draining water from the Assiniboine onto a sprawling rural area that includes more than 150 homes.
Army crews and volunteers have put up sandbags and tube dikes around most of those homes by now, and some won’t see water anywhere near them for days.
If all goes according to plan, the water will eventually drain into the Red River system, where water levels have dropped sharply since April.
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