A history and policy review of water management in the lower Red River basin

• Main Author: Ogrodnik, Lawrence N.
• Other Authors: N/A
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Red River; Flooding; Water management
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23624

The agricultural sector and communities in the lower Red River Valley in Manitoba have suffered a number of water related problems since the Basin was first settled. Initially a massive drainage system had to be constructed to render much of the area suitable for agricultural production. Major floods and droughts have also plagued the area, resulting in direct measurable costs to area residents and businesses. In a more direct manner, the development of the area has been adversely affected by limited supplies of potable water, and due to a lack of irrigation water, the area has not been able to realize its full development potential. These problems became particularly acute between 1965 and 1980. During this period major Red River floods occurred in 1965, 1966, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979. In the sixty-five years previous to this period, there were only three major floods. Major drought occurred most recently in 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1980. Inevitably there was a public outcry for senior levels of government to initiate preventive action rather than merely providing compensation for losses. However, government has been slow to respond resulting in public frustration and disaffection. This study can be divided into three sections. The first four chapters deal primarily with the history of water management, tracing the evolution of policy and attitude, the transfer of responsibility from local government to more senior levels of government, and the evolution of institutional and methodological obstructions to resolving some of the recurring water management problems. The next four chapters examine the current situation in terms of potable water supply, the advantages and disadvantages of large scale irrigation and the controversy over solutions to flooding. The last chapter is comprised of a summary and recommendations. A common theme throughout the paper is the fact that regional economic development is the ultimate goal of water management. However, policy decisions seem to have devolved from the elected representatives of the people to the technocrats, thereby limiting public recourse to unsatisfactory decisions. The technocrats' approach has been to disassociate development from water management due to an over-reliance on benefit-cost analysis of site-specific, problem-specific issues. In view of the fact that public input is limited and the public perceives government action as wholly inadequate, this paper seeks to empower people to act.