It hasn't rained for a week or so, but a local camp is still being threatened by high water.
The 1st Westminster Scouts camp at Waldsea Lake, comprised of 15 acres of land, is down to about half of that these days because of the rising water levels at the lake in the past couple of years.
According to Stacey Poss, the group commissioner with the Scouts, the camp was supposed to be included behind the berm installed at Waldsea Lake a couple of years ago, when rising water flooded and destroyed the cabins at the lake. But once construction on the berm started, the Scout camp was left out, she said.
But Dwayne Rowlett with the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority (SWA), says that many plans for a berm at Waldsea were discussed in 2006, but that the original purpose of the berm was to protect the cabins. As well, the berm was seen as a temporary measure at that time, he added.
Rowlett says he hasn't had any communication with the Scouts and doesn't know of discussions between the two groups or of an expropriation notice.
In May 2010, the Scouts received an easement and expropriation notice from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority (SWA) on the Scouts land, which is owned by Scouts Canada, although the buildings and equipment on the property are owned by the local group, Poss explained. The Scouts have had their camp on the property since 1976.
The camp had a beach past the trees that are now standing in water, but they lost that in 2006 when the flooding started, Poss said.
With the water now only feet from the buildings on the property, the Scouts are looking for some help in saving the kitchen, the storage shed, and the bunkhouse - which is the old Dixon schoolhouse.
"We do expect the water to recede at some point, but we do expect the buildings to be damaged this year," Poss stated. "We would like to prevent that."
They've asked local businesses for estimates on blocking up the buildings and moving them to higher ground to save them, but if they use the money they have for that, they won't have any money to run the Scouts program, Poss said. The estimates run about $10,000, she added. Those estimates do not include moving the utilities like power or changing the location of the septic tank.
In fact, the ground is so wet at the camp that a septic truck which came in earlier this month couldn't make it to the tank to empty it. They told the Scouts to call them once the ground freezes and they will come back to empty the tank.
With limited funds and water rising ever higher, the group is asking for the public's help in moving the buildings and for storage space for their equipment, which is now stored at the camp.
"The biggest project will be getting the buildings lifted and then moved," Poss said. "We will have to keep them up on blocks until we know what the water is doing."
The Scouts have talked to the SWA, but they've been told that they can't help until the buildings are damaged. They've had the same response from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP), Poss said.
"We need to do something or watch it flood," said Stan Sterling, Scout leader.
"We really just want to save the camp for the kids and the future Scouts," said Deb Stumborg, who is in her 17th year with the local organization. "Whatever we can do to preserve it until the water goes down."
The Scouts know that they are not the only people having problems this year, Stumborg said, but they need some help to save the camp.
