The Turtle Mountain Souris Plains Heritage Association (TMSPHA) has been sharing local history for many years, through their Vantage Points book series, through their website and podcasts, through topics of discussion and storytelling at their annual history seminar featuring guest speakers, as well as through their latest documentary type films.
The group has just completed their third film, Whitewater Lake - The Beauty and The Challenge, featuring the history that surrounds Whitewater Lake in its proximity to the Turtle Mountains to the south.
Where is Whitewater Lake?
Whitewater Lake sits on the borders of the Municipalities of Deloraine-Winchester, Boissevain-Morton and covers approximately 22,000 acres on average. It reaches a depth of about 2 meters, or 6 feet. It is fed by eight major creeks that originate from the Turtle Mountains to its south, but it has no natural outflow.
The lake has been designated as a globally significant Important Bird Area by Bird Studies Canada due to the number of waterfowl and shorebirds that congregate during migration seasons. The Whitewater Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is 8,257 hectares in size.
What's the controversy that surrounds Whitewater Lake?
TMPSHA project lead, David Neufeld scripted the film with committee Chair, Jan McClelland.
"Those of us who live around Whitewater Lake appreciate its beauty and the hunting and the muskrat trapping, the history that traditionally happens around there, but the lake has become a bit cantankerous causing a fair amount of flooding and so we thought that was the problem that we want to look into. What is the history behind the lake and how it has evolved and tell perhaps more of a clinical story of the lake."
Neufeld says as they delved deeper into the history and the story of the lake, they heard from local residents that over the past 150 year the north slope of the Turtle Mountain's landscape had been altered to accommodate the building of farmsteads, roads and ditches, and the clearing of forest for crop growth over the years, which in turn has changed the land's ability to absorb water.
"And so that has fundamentally changed how the lake responds," he says. "The lake is just a receiver. It's not the creator of the problem. The problem of the lake is that it's flooding, but the problem of the watershed is that it's dumping water into Whitewater much faster than what it did in the past 120 years."
Some of the area farmers are willing to adjust their haying strategies when the water level is high. "But some farmers want a real solution to the flooding of their land, and of course then it becomes a problem for the municipalities," notes Neufeld. "How do they respond to farmers' needs for the lake to be regulated?"
If lake levels can be regulated, thus allowing more arable land to be worked, then that land can be taxed by the municipalities. "But they can't tax them if it's flooded. So, it's a problem not just for landowners, but for municipalities as well."
Please listen to more with David Neufeld below!
TMSPHA proudly presents their latest local history film: Whitewater Lake - The Beauty and The Challenge
The film is premiering at several venues in their region, along with two of our other short films: Precious Load: Tales of a Turtle Mountain Trapper and The Chain Lakes Barn: A History.
Show Times:
- Community Theatre, 566 Steven St., Boissevain - 7:00 pm, Oct. 29
- Evans Theatre, 270-18th St., Brandon - 2:00 pm, Nov. 3
- Community Theatre, 203 N. Railway Ave., Deloraine - 7:30 pm, Nov. 5
- Community Hall, 155 Main St., Elgin - 7:30 pm, Nov. 7
- Strand Theatre, 89 Main St., Melita - 2:00 pm, Nov. 10
Admission by donation.
(all photos credited to the TMSPHA)