Recently I drove to Frobisher, a trip that usually takes about half an hour along Highway 18. Just east of Bienfait, there was the usual road hazard sign with the three bumps, but curiously, it has a 60 km speed limit. Pfffttt ... I thought. Yeah, right.
Then I came to the first soft spot, and I slammed on the binders.
That trip, including the flagman, took closer to an hour. The highway was literally falling apart, especially, it seemed, in areas where the water was flooding both sides of the roads. The highways folks were working hard to repair it. And this was before the heavy traffic of the oil patch resumes following spring breakup.
This was just a small area of damage from the incredibly wet spring we?ve had. With all the roads that have been under water, RM roads cut, washouts and the like, I imagine there?s going to be a lot of work to be done repairing all the damage in the coming months.
It?s already a third of the way into May and I have yet to see one tractor in the field, despite being in an area that usually gets its crops in a lot quicker than back home, north of Yorkton, or around the Battlefords, my home of 10 years.
I?ve been waiting to take a photo of an oilfield family that also farms 17,000 acres, but on this day we had to delay the shoot due to the expected two inches of rain that is due later today. I don?t know if they?ve even been able to get into the field at all, so far. That?s a lot of acres to try to get seeded with time running out.
A friend in southern Manitoba pointed out how the flooding there is a major issue. ?We have saved billions in estimated damage because of the floodway. It pays to pay for infrastructure,? she says.
Thankfully, they live just outside the flood zone.
Without ?Duff?s Ditch,? the Red River floodway, that city would have looked like New Orleans a few times in recent years. With essentially all major waterways in southern Manitoba flooding, and most finding their way through Winnipeg, The army has been called out once again to assist, this time not far from CFB Shilo, in the Brandon area.
Back in Saskatchewan, the dams in the Estevan area - Rafferty and Boundary ? have filled to the brim. A release of water from Boundary had property owners scrambling downstream to protect their assets. As it is, the existence of Rafferty Dam has already saved a lot of heartache downstream.
Saskatchewan forever and a day has been known as a dry place, prone to droughts more often than not. Our memories of wet times are short, by comparison.
For sure, someone is going to trot out the global warming boogeyman. Global warming is causing all this water! Just like if caused all the drought, too!
Yet you?ll note that flooding in the Qu?Appelle valley has been compared to a flood in the mid-1970s, reminding us that yes, this has happened before. And it will happen again.
The best we can do is prepare. Install infrastructure, like culverts and bridges, designed to cope with larger flows of water. Have equipment, like sandbagging machines, ready well in advance.
It would do us well to consider allowing overland flood insurance in Saskatchewan. I know I would be willing to pay for it, just in case.
As for the farmers, there?s not much they can do about either wet or dry conditions, except pray.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].
