Over the last six decades, Manitoba has developed a complex network to keep water flowing to its destination without harming Winnipeg, Brandon and many other communities
Soldiers from 17 Wing in Winnipeg sandbag in St. Francois Xavier, Man., in a July 8, 2014, file photo.It has become an annual ritual in Manitoba – mid-winter thoughts turn to the spring melt and whether land and communities will be threatened by rising water that comes from rivers as far away as the Rocky Mountains and South Dakota.
As a young boy, Thomas and his family were among almost 100,000 people forced to flee their homes during the big flood of 1950, which prompted Manitoba to start building extensive flood-prevention infrastructure. Following that flood, the Manitoba government built the Red River Floodway – a channel almost 50 kilometres long that diverts water from the Red River before it reaches Winnipeg from the south, carries it around the city and dumps it back in.
A flood in 2009 was made worse by ice jams north of the city, so the government invested in more icebreaking equipment. Overall, the province appears confident that its array of flood-prevention measures can handle what might come, especially in the Red River Valley, where most of Manitoba’s population is.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The decade ahead looks bright for Canadian wineCanadian wineries are set to enjoy their own ‘Roaring Twenties’ in the decade ahead
Read more »
Venice’s identity is threatened by mass tourism and flooding. The city is fighting back, but is it too little, too late?Long before this fall’s superfloods damaged artistic and architectural treasures, Venetians saw worrying signs of how too many visitors were harming their way of life. Now, both crises are at a tipping point
Read more »
David Stern left a wide legacy to the NBA but the global growth of the game was his biggest accomplishmentLong-time commissioner remembered most for expanding basketball’s worldwide reach, but he also brought in the salary cap and draft lottery and made the all-star game into a weekend-long event.
Read more »
Feds seek advice from public on monument for Afghanistan missionThe federal government is looking for advice from the public on what a monument to Canada's 13-year mission in Afghanistan should look like.
Read more »
Rupi Kaur may not be MY ‘writer of the decade,’ but that doesn’t mean she isn’t THE ‘writer of the decade’Sadaf Ahsan: Not yet 30 and with no Man or Booker or Pulitzer or Nobel Prize to her name, Kaur’s success is largely thanks to a massive social-media following
Read more »