Last year's spring flood damage in the RM of Stanley has come a long way with a few more areas left to repair.
Reeve Ike Friesen explains.
"We have 248 sites that have been repaired. There are 26 sites still remaining to be fixed. Four of those require engineering, and we do expect those to be completed in 2023. So overall, I think we've done really well."
He continued to explain areas still left to repair and the changes being made as they move forward.
"We have some areas that we saw some problems in, those being Schanzenfeld, Reinfeld and Hochfeld. Those have been reviewed and we think we've figured out what we can do to mitigate that in the future. We've also had some consultation with some of the residents in the area and they feel that those should be good repairs or changes we're making to prevent those areas from flooding again."
When asked what they learned from last Spring's flooding, Friesen explained they have changed some of their practices.
"Well, I think we can look back and see some of the drains that were in place from our forefathers that were constructed years ago, did a really sufficient job, but there's areas we learned. As far as ridging snow, when we do that in winter time, and the way the water was being held back by snowbanks, and when those got melted through and took off, sometimes 1/4 section of water. That's where the problems were and we have made changes in that this winter, and also in some other drains that we need to divert to different areas, and so on."
Looking ahead to this Spring's forecast, Friesen is optimistic.
As of now, we look like it's pretty good normal snowfall, but we're not into spring yet and it looks like we may be receiving some more this coming weekend, which still is welcome. The moisture is good, but it does look like there's some relief as far as the snowfall at this point."
Friesen wanted to make sure to thank the staff for their work to make all this happen.
"I really want to thank our staff for always thinking ahead, being there for the people. They've been working hard at working on these flood areas to figure out the right solution for it. And I think we have a really good staff working on that, I feel very comfortable about that. And I think going forward, we're looking at a good Spring and Summer."