Residents of Ste. Agathe have been shown plans for what the upgraded dike could look like in their community.
Our province is in the planning stages of raising the dike. In December of last year were the initial meetings including information sessions and discussion. Then in March, the province presented preliminary design alternatives and provided opportunity for feedback. This month, the preferred design was presented to the public at a pair of public consultations held at the Ste. Agathe Fire Hall.
Mitch Duval is Chief Administrative Officer for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot. He says the province's objective is to bring the dike in Ste. Agathe to a level that would protect the community in the event of a 1 in 200-year flood. Currently, ring dikes in the Red River Valley are protecting against 1 in 100-year flood events. To provide that extra protection, Duval says the dike in Ste. Agathe will need to be raised about two feet.
According to Duval, raising the dike at Ste. Agathe is strictly an initiative from the province. And the project will be paid for entirely by the province. They have hired a consultant team led by KGS Group to do the engineering, as well as Scatliff Miller Murray to perform the preliminary design and consultant work.
Duval says dozens of people came out to the public consultations held earlier this month. He notes residents that will are impacted by the dike came to see what is being presented.
According to Duval, planners have broken down the entire ring dike into about four or five sections. Each section has its own design. Duval says for the most part, the province is looking to raise the existing dike with earth. However, he notes there will be areas where there could be a combination of earth and some other product. Other dike options include Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall dikes, which the province says are the most aesthetically pleasing, or bin wall dikes with sheet piles.
Duval explains that there are some areas in Ste. Agathe where the dike will need to run closer to the river, which requires different methodology. For example, the boat launch is right along the river and Duval says they will need to take that into consideration.
Then, there is the area east of the church.
"That Main Street portion in front of the church area is very beautiful, you see out to the river as you're walking by, we're trying to do the best we can without going too high with the earth dike," he explains. "So we want to try to keep the views but still try to protect the community as best as we can."
Duval reminds us that raising the dike in order to be prepared for a 1 in 200-year flood is just a precaution.
"Hopefully we never see it," he says. "But never say never."
According to our province, the average summer level of the Red River at Ste. Agathe is 226.56 metres and they are wanting the flood protection level to be 238 metres.
Residents were told at the public consultations that the goal is to have successfully completed construction by March of 2025. This is a requirement in order to maximize federal funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).
Duval says he expects our province will come back with a final design based on what they heard from the community. The detailed design would be the next phase and once they have that, they can go to tender and begin construction.