Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation has determined there were periods of incremental artificial flooding downstream of the Shellmouth Dam and Reservoir due to its operation in 2014 and will compensate landowners in the Assiniboine Valley affected by it.
Staff from Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development determined that incremental artificial flooding could have caused some limited damages or losses to producers including:
- hay or grasses that survived being underwater could not be cut and baled or grazed,
- loss of time to cultivate the land in the fall when fertilizer costs are lower, and
- lost opportunity to sow a fall crop such as winter wheat or fall rye.
Artificial flood damage occurs when the regulated flows rise above the natural levels that would have occurred if the dam and reservoir did not exist.
Legislation requires the province to pay compensation for crop and other business losses, as well as property damages and it establishes a process to assess and determine compensable losses. A compensation program will be developed in the coming months and affected producers will be contacted with those details.
The Manitoba government will also review the operating guidelines for the Shellmouth Dam commencing this fall. This review will supplement recent work on operating guidelines for the Red River Floodway, the Portage Diversion and the Fairford River Control Structure.
The Shellmouth Dam and Reservoir is located in the Assiniboine River valley, 48 kilometres northwest of Russell. The structure minimizes flooding by storing water from the upper Assiniboine River and the Shell River in the reservoir and regulating the flow of that water into the Assiniboine River.
Over the winter and prior to spring run-off, water is released to lower the level in the reservoir to enable more storage during the spring run-off. In the spring, flows into the Assiniboine River are regulated to minimize flooding. In times of drought, more stored water can be released into the river for irrigation, municipal water supplies and environmental benefits.
Construction of the Shellmouth Dam and Reservoir began in 1964 and was completed in 1972 at a cost of $10.8 million. The reservoir is approximately 56 km long, with a capacity of 390,000 acre-feet of water.
A link to the report on possible artificial flooding caused by the operation of the Shellmouth Dam and Reservoir can be found online.
