Just a few months ago, we had predicted that this spring, Humboldt was going to be an island, surrounded by water on all sides. Highways, we thought, would be flooded, as well as grid roads, and we felt we may have had to call on friends in other centres to canoe-in toilet paper and other essentials when the shelves in the city went bare.
But, all in all, things aren't looking so bad this spring.
Yes, fields are wet, wet, wet. Farmers, for the most part, haven't been out much. Much sand-bagging had to occur in the Watson area to ensure the town wasn't flooded, and many in the rural areas have had to deal with cut roads, and washed out culverts. RMs have declared disaster areas because of the water situation. Add on top of that the loss of Waldsea Lake as a regional park, and the flooding this spring has affected a lot of people.
However, it could have been worse.
Look at Manitoba.
I saw an interview on the news this weekend with the owners of a home that was expected to flood when a berm was cut to prevent the flooding of other homes downstream. Those people were pretty stoic. "It's got to be done," the man said, though he was facing the very real threat of losing his home and all of his belongings.
Only one person in this area is facing a situation like that one, and he's been assured by the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority that his farm will likely be okay. His yard isn't under water yet, and isn't expected to be this year. His farmland is another matter, but let's hope he's compensated fairly for that.
Only one other area still could be in jeopardy, and that's the local landfill. The jury is still out on whether the area will flood or not, but so far, berms there have held.
My point is that, really, this year has been a lot better than anyone had ever hoped for. There was no massive April storm that caused sewer back-ups and flooded basements all over the city, like there was in 2010. Highway 5 west of the city is, so far, still above the level of Annie Lake, the slough that surrounds it.
I hate to even say that things are looking not so bad (knock on wood) for this year, because that's when Mother Nature usually kicks you in the teeth, but things are looking a bit more positive than they did once upon a time.
And I'd argue that's because of all the planning that went into ensuring this year wasn't as disastrous as it could have been.
The City of Humboldt worked on projects all winter and spring to ensure runoff water didn't cause problems.
The Town of Watson and the RMs out that way did the same, and saved their citizens some grief.
The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority's plan to flood out Waldsea Lake to save farmland around Deadmoose and Houghton seems to be working.
The water lying around in the area is by no means insubstantial. And our economy may be taking a hit if farmers can't get out into the fields again this year.
And because a lot of the water that's sitting around in fields is salt water, it will take years for flooded land to recover.
Not that we'll be able to prove it, but I think it could have been much, much worse.
