Like most of Saskatchewan, spring weather is a little late to arrive in Yorkton. A winter’s worth of snow is still piled high along city streets, and crews are working very hard to ensure the community is prepared for any potential for flooding.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fall work in preparation,” said Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney. “Now crews are in the streets cleaning snow away from drains to make sure drains are open because we are a little concerned about coming quickly.”
Yorkton is very familiar with flooding. In July 2010, the city was hit with a severe summer storm that caused a devastating flood, destroying a number of homes and businesses.
“When you talk to residents of our city, you can find half or better than half had water in their basements,” added Maloney. “A lot of damage not only to homes, but to businesses.”
As the community prepares to combat any potential flooding this spring, it’s also playing host to a flood management and mitigation seminar. Speakers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba will be joined by a pair of speakers from the Netherlands, a country that is very familiar with flooding.
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“One thing we have learned over the years in the Netherlands, in Europe, elsewhere, is you really need to have a catchment wide approach,” said George Peters, a project director with Dutch firm Royal Haskoning DHV.
In the Netherlands around 10 million people, out of a total population of 16.7 million, live behind dykes to protect against flooding.
He says communities like Yorkton need to think long term when preparing for floods, to not only prevent flooding in their own community, but to ensure those plans won’t create problems further downstream.
“You can’t sort out hot spots one after the other,” added Peters. “Flooding problems, and flood management, are a multi-disciplinary problem, and you need to address it in a multi-disciplinary way.”
While Yorkton feels it is well prepared for this year’s spring runoff, Mayor Maloney says the lessons learned at the seminar will ensure the entire region will be ready for years to come.
“When you look at the expertise that will be here, it’ll be a great opportunity to attend and see what’s being done elsewhere.”
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