Lake St. Martin outlet project could start construction this fall: Manitoba infrastructure minister

The Manitoba government says it's ready to start construction on the Lake St. Martin outlet channel as early as this fall, as long as environmental regulators and Indigenous partners give their approval.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler gave an update on the project Wednesday, marking the 10-year anniversary of the devastating 2011 flood that forced the entire Lake St. Martin First Nation community, in Manitoba's Interlake, to relocate. Flooding that year caused $2.1 billion in damages.

While the 2011 flood and another in 2014 highlighted the need for better infrastructure, they were not isolated events, Schuler said.

"In the last two years, Manitoba has experienced four record high-water events and we can expect further such events, resulting in more frequent and larger flood events in the future," he said at a news conference.

In the spring of 2011, 13 waterways across the province flooded. By mid-May, areas around Lake Manitoba were seeing overland flooding. 

There were close to 7,000 evacuees in Manitoba at the height of flooding. Lake St. Martin First Nation had to be entirely relocated and rebuilt, with evacuees finally returning home only in the last few years.

The province has attempted to alleviate future flooding by cutting two new outlet channels that would divert water from  Lake Manitoba through Lake St. Martin and into Lake Winnipeg, but regulatory hurdles have delayed the project for years.

Now, Schuler says the province has completed all preliminary designs for the outlet channel.

Detailed design work, including construction tender preparation, is underway and will incorporate feedback received from the ongoing federal and provincial environmental assessment processes, key stakeholders and Indigenous communities.

"The province of Manitoba has moved heaven to push this project forward," said Schuler.

"It is up to the federal government and our Indigenous partners to allow us to move earth. We are set to begin construction of the Lake Manitoba outlet as early as this fall."

Last summer, four Manitoba First Nations won an injunction to stop the province from continuing construction on an access road and other work related to a proposed flood outlet near their communities.

Earlier this year, a report commissioned by a group of Interlake First Nations cast doubt on whether the project would effectively prevent flooding, due to a narrow channel connecting the north and south basins of Lake St. Martin. 

The First Nations accused the province of ignoring Indigenous knowledge about the area, but Schuler said the project design has been modified to address the problem. 

The Lake St. Martin control structure has been lowered by three feet to mitigate the effect the narrows has on water levels in the north and south basins. The control structure has also been relocated to reduce excavation quantities and project cost, Schuler said.

Once construction begins, it is expected to take four years to complete. The total cost of the project is estimated at $540 million.