Mother Nature has not been kind to Southern Manitoba in 1997! After facing the "Blizzard of the Century" in early April, Manitobans along the Red River also faced the "Flood of the Century" in late April and May.

The only access to the water intake facility is by rail and during the flood, the rail line was lost in many locations. Photo - Laurie Nowicki

Most of the time the Red River flows quietly, with residents giving little thought to the river's potential for disastrous flooding. Occasionally, the river overlaps its banks, creating havoc in low-lying developments and threatening residential areas with devastation.

All the major floods on the Red River have occurred during the spring runoff period, usually due to a coincidence of adverse hydrologic and climatic factors. The most devastating flood in Winnipeg's history occurred in the spring of 1950. Even higher floods happened in 1852 and 1826, but the City was still relatively undeveloped. The flood of 1997 was second only to the flood of 1826.

Following the 1950 flood, major flood protection works have been constructed to protect Winnipeg. These include the Red River Floodway, Portage Diversion and Shellmouth Dam. This year was a real test of the Winnipeg Floodway!

The City used 81,000 tonnes of sand to make 5.5 million sandbag. Photo - Laurie Nowicki

Without the flood protection works, flood waters in Winnipeg could have reached a height of 34.5 feet above James Ave. datum (normal winter ice level). In 1950, flood levels reached 30.5 feet above James Ave. datum. This year, levels within Winnipeg reached 24.5 feet above datum as a result of the protection afforded by the floodway et al.

This was still a major flood event as many secondary dykes are only constructed to 19.0 James Ave. datum. Much riverbank property was flooded and water levels reached the main girders on many bridges. One of the City's main bridges was damaged and is still out of service.

To defend against the floodwater, over 800 homes had to be protected with temporary dykes of sand or clay. To this end, the City used 81,000 tonnes of sand to make 5.5 million sandbags. Many dykes were over 8 feet high. Most dykes were constructed by hand utilizing the efforts of civilian volunteers and the military.

In the end, only 30 homes within the city of Winnipeg were lost to the floodwaters. Unfortunately, many more homes outside the city limits were severely damaged by the flood.

As a result of the flood levels, two of the City's three wastewater treatment plants lost their secondary capacity to treat the volumes of sewage being pumped. With receding water levels, these plants are now back to normal operation.

Throughout the entire flood event, the City's water supply was not compromised. The source of the City of Winnipeg's water supply is Shoal Lake, located on the Manitoba-Ontario border some 97 miles east of Winnipeg. The only access to the water intake facility is by rail and during the flood, the rail line was lost in many locations. Other than access, there was no interruption to the quality or quantity of the water supply.

The blizzard is over, the flood is over, what's next? Drought, tornadoes, or just mosquitos?