August 27, 2010
Provincial Program to Deliver Flood Protection Infrastructure, Improve Flood Forecasting: Premier
– – –$17.5-million Program to Invest in Protection Across Manitoba: Melnick
Manitoba will help protect individual homes, farms and businesses from flooding and support other flood-protection measures across the province as part of a new five-year program to deliver $17.5 million in flood mitigation projects, Premier Greg Selinger announced today.
“Investments in flood control and flood fighting since 1999 have paid off and we are firmly committed to continue helping Manitobans with improvements in flood-affected areas,” said Selinger.
The 2010 Manitoba Individual Flood Proofing Initiative includes $9.8 million in financial assistance for the owners of homes, businesses and farms to flood proof their buildings and structures up to a maximum total project cost of $100,000. Individual flood-protection works that will be supported include:
· constructing private ring dikes,
· raising structures on earth mounds to the flood protection level, and
· moving structures out of flood-risk areas.
The provincial government will work with landowners to identify the most practical and cost‑efficient methods, said the premier. Similar to the 1997 flood-proofing program, the participant will be responsible for paying 14 per cent of the total project cost. This program will be delivered in areas of high flood risk across Manitoba, prioritizing the north Red River area. Program details including eligibility criteria and timelines for applications will be made available in the coming weeks, Selinger said.
“We know that investing in flood protection measures will continue to provide benefits for years to come,” Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick said. “This program is a significant investment and will benefit residents throughout Manitoba.”
She said a further $6.6 million will be used to improve flood forecasting and ice-jam mitigation, and conduct studies related to flood-control infrastructure in Manitoba including:
· conducting feasibility assessments for new community dikes,
· enhancing the provincial ice-jam mitigation program with additional ice-cutting equipment,
· acquiring highly detailed LiDAR topographic maps to accurately identify infrastructure that is at risk during a forecasted flood,
· funding 10 new soil-moisture monitoring stations to provide real-time soil-moisture data and improve the accuracy of flood forecasts, and
· funding 20 new climatic monitoring stations to measure climate conditions and help improve the accuracy of flood forecasts.
In addition, the province will spend $1.1 million to upgrade drainage on PR 224 near the Peguis and Fisher River First Nations to help mitigate the flood risks in those communities.
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