Water diversion could ease flooding

Watch above: A series of open houses will be held in the Quill lakes district in Saskatchewan following years of flooding in the region. Wendy Winiewski explores some of the options being considered to alleviate the problem and asks residents how they feel.

QUILL LAKE, Sask. – Consistently rising since 2011, Big Quill and Little Quill lakes, located around 160 kilometres east of Saskatoon, are way over capacity. For years, area residents have been calling on the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA) to come up with a plan and now that there is one, a water war is quickly spilling over.

With a one metre rise, Big and Little Quill lakes would overflow, uncontrolled, into Last Mountain Lake.

The effect could be catastrophic flooding of an additional 83,000 acres of area farmland until reaching the spill point, after which the saline water would drain into Last Mountain Lake, threatening fish and the tourism industry.

READ MORE: Concern and water rising in Quill Lake area

The WSA has come up with a plan.

“The Kutawagen diversion project involves dykes along Big Quill,” said Doug Johnson, with the WSA.

The barrier would stop the Kutawagen Creek from flowing into Quill lakes, causing the creek to switch directions and flow into Last Mountain Lake instead.

“If they do dam it here, what’s going to happen here? The water levels are going to increase,” said Doug Frank, a farmer from the Quill lakes area.

The Kutawagen Creek is just one of several tributaries leading into Quill lakes. Damming it off would cost $19 million and would reduce inflow by five to seven per cent.

Not enough, according to Franko. He was forced to berm his home quarter off this spring. It’s protecting Franko’s house, but not much else.

“My wife and I worked together for all these years to build and hopefully have for retirement, but it doesn’t look like it,” said Franko.

With 600 of his 2,200 acres already underwater, Franko is desperate for a solution but doesn’t believe this is it. He voiced his opinion loudly this week at an open house with the WSA.

Last Mountain Lake residents are also displeased with the proposal.

“We do notice any influx of water because we’re having the difficulties with the slumping the sliding, the land sliding that’s going on,” said Janis Campbell, a Last Mountain Lake resident.

They say they’ve already been dealing with their fair share of flooding in recent years and don’t want any water deliberately added to their water body.

“Nobody wants it but we’ve got an issue where, if nothing is done, we continue to flood farmland,” said Johnson.

A decision is expected this fall.