Article appeared in the Nov 3 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
A topographical mapping of the RM of Bifrost has just been completed, bringing planners for the Arborg-Bifrost area a step closer to developing a comprehensive water management plan.
An aircraft, equipped with specialized LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment, has been flying over the entire municipality taking readings which will soon be translated into contour maps of the region. The map will allow planners to understand where water is flowing, and eliminates to need for surveys to be done by hand on the ground, explained Maurice A. Bouvier, Executive Director with the Strategic Planning Directorate, at Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI).
“It’s an excellent tool to use,” Bouvier said.
The map will be made available to others, including the East Interlake Conservation District (EICD), who has been working on a mapping project of their own, of the Icelandic River watershed and Washow Bay Creek. This new tool will go a long way to speeding up their work as well, and will help provide an accurate picture of drainage infrastructure and will help with analyzing what will and will not work, Bouvier explained.
Bouvier is working in a supportive role with the Bifrost Agricultural Sustainability Initiative Cooperative(BASIC), helping to coordinate various provincial government departments, such as Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation (MIT) and Manitoba Water Stewardship, and acting as a resource to BASIC’s board.
BASIC started in 2005 in response to drainage issues caused by successive years of excess moisture in the region. The cooperative is currently comprised of 14 board members, a number of area businesses, and about 90 per cent of actively producing farmers in the RM of Bifrost.
BASIC undertook the current project in order to find solutions to excess moisture situation that has been problematic for the past number of years. A feasibility study on a number of options in dealing with water is in the works.
The four options under consideration are:
• To create two new drains, proposed by BASIC, on the north and south sides of the Icelandic River, which will take pressure off of other parts of the municipality and off of the Icelandic River itself;
• To rehabilitate the existing drainage system;
• To determine locations of potential water storage sites;
• To create a new option based on findings.
Later in November a consultant, who will carry out the analysis, will be chosen. Their report will be due in the fall of 2012. In conjunction with MAFRI, BASIC will choose the next course of action.
The Government of Canada is providing funding to the project through the AgriFlexibility Program in the amount of $480,000, with the balance of the project funding, $408,000, coming from Manitoba, over a period ending in March, 2012.
